Radical Waste Scheme Moves a Step Closer

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new method could reduce the amount of non-recyclable refuse

Councillors have backed plans to commence trials of a new technique called "PyroPure" to see if it can be used effectively to deal with non-recyclable waste produced on local council estates.

If the trials prove successful the borough's waste mountain could be dramatically reduced – meaning less needs to be disposed of using methods such as landfill.

Diverting waste away from disposal methods that cause greenhouse gases – such as landfill - is a key target imposed by the Government on all Britain's councils and waste authorities. These methods will be effectively outlawed by European Union rules over the next decade.

PyroPure is based on a technology called pyrolysis, which uses heat inside a pressurised container in the absence of oxygen to reduce most household waste into carbon dust.

It is a technology that is used by the Royal Navy in their on-board waste management systems. Naval warships and submarines are banned from dumping waste at sea.  Now the council has moved a step closer to holding its own field trials of the technique on two local housing estates. 

Equipment is to be installed in the communal waste bin chambers of both estates - one high rise and one low rise - to ascertain whether the process would work where refuse is currently deposited into chutes and collected in large communal paladin storage bins.

The equipment being tested at this initial stage of the field trials will use electronic sensors to check that only suitable waste is diverted into the PyroPure bins. The sensors will divert off into separate storage space all large, heavy or bulky items that should not be placed into refuse chutes. 

At this stage of the trials, the PyroPure bins are not being tested. This will happen later in the year if the hi-tech sorting system works successfully and further tests establish that the unit can be safely and successfully incorporated into tower block bin chambers.

If a pyrolysis-type system was introduced onto local housing estates - almost 20,000 tonnes of refuse could be diverted away from alternative disposal routes such as landfill landfill each year.

Pyrolysis will not replace recycling. Card, paper and other 'dry' recyclables should still be put into orange sacks or recycling bins as at present. Furthermore, pyrolysis will not decompose glass or metal, so these would still be collected from the equipment and taken away for recycling.

The field tests for PyroPure are being wholly funded by the company that manufactures the systems - Morgan Everett Ltd.

The pressurized containers that would ultimately be used in the pyrolysis process would replace the existing open topped paladins, thus eliminating all smells and spillage from these large communal dustbins.

The council's environment spokesman Cllr Malcolm Grimston pictured left said: "This is a radical and exciting solution to the problem of the nation's ever growing waste mountain. Wandsworth is currently the only local authority in the country to be exploring its potential, but if it works, then every council will be clamouring to embrace this technology.

                 

"It is a simple and effective process that has worked very well in the limited applications it has been used in until now. We want to see if it can be expanded to work on a bigger scale.

"Diverting waste away from disposal methods like landfill is a key priority. Landfill sites are a major contributory factor to global warming so it is important that we look to reduce the amount of waste we bury under the ground. If it can work on a larger scale then, coupled with increasing recycling efforts, it could play a major role in reducing harmful greenhouse gases."

 

February 22, 2008