Green light given for cleaner, greener county

A CLEANER, greener Oldham could soon be a reality as Greater Manchester’s mission to boost recycling takes a step forward.

Planning applications have now been approved for 36 recycling and composting facilities across Greater Manchester. This forms part of Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority’s (GMWDA) 25-year contract with Viridor Laing to provide new and improved facilities in the region.

Planning permission has been granted for all the sites, allowing construction to start as soon as possible.

Oldham’s Arkwright Street recycling centre will get a £33 million refurbishment, including creation of a 40ft high mechanical and biological treatment plant — to create green fuels by using left-over waste — and a new transfer loading station.

The programme will also bring a range of modern facilities to bring the latest technology to each district of Greater Manchester including:

::Six transfer loading stations which will receive both recyclable and non-recyclable waste from local collections ready to be sent on for reprocessing.

::Two green-waste shredding facilities which will shred green waste and prepare it for efficient transport to a composting facility helping Greater Manchester divert more of its waste from landfill.

::Four in-vessel composting facilities to treat garden and kitchen waste.

::A materials recovery facility to sort kerbside collected recyclable materials.

::Seventeen household waste recycling centres (HWRCs).

::Five mechanical biological treatment with anaerobic digestion facilities for dry recyclable materials which will help Greater Manchester generate green energy and divert more waste from landfill.

::A thermal power station which will convert residual waste that cannot be recycled into fuel for use by a North-West major chemicals producer Ineos Chlor to provide energy for its plant at Runcorn, Cheshire.

The facilities will assist in improving recycling levels and recovery of household waste to make Greater Manchester a more sustainable environment as well as providing 5,000 new jobs throughout the region.

Throughout the planning process, Viridor Laing and GMWDA carried out public consultation exercises on each of the proposals to make sure householders were aware of developments in their area. All facilities will be completed by 2012 and will reduce waste diverted to landfill by 75 per cent, with 50 per cent being recycled or composted.

GMWDA is now moving forward with the construction work, already under way at 14 sites, and residents will soon be able to see the changes that are being made to increase the region’s recycling levels even further.


LasT month, Oldham Council rejected plans for a waste plant that would have burned around 100,000 tonnes of household rubbish on the Ram and Rugby mill site, off Gorse Street, Chadderton, because of concerns that it would impact on residents and cause traffic chaos.