FCC agree next phase of contract with Wrexham Council for MBT plant

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Wrexham Council and FCC Environment have formally agreed a significant contract variation that will allow the council to meet the new, more stringent statutory recycling targets that have recently been introduced by the Welsh Government.

It will also ensure that reliance on landfill disposal is reduced even further in future years, resulting in both significant environmental and financial benefits to the council.

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This new project will see the development of a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant on the existing Wrexham Eco Park on Bryn Lane that will recover recyclate and produce a refuse derived fuel from the household residual waste.

The MBT plant has planning permission and is expected to be operational in summer 2014.

FCC Environment has established a long-term fuel supply agreement with Ferrybridge Multifuel Energy, which is a join venture between SSE and Wheelabrator Technologies. A £300 million, 500,000 tonnes per annum multifuel electricity generation facility at SSE Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire is being built by the joint venture.

From 2015, fuel developed at the FCC MBT plant will be taken to Ferrybridge. Prior to that, it will be taken to the Runcorn energy from waste facility operated by Viridor.

Wrexham Council strategic director Phil Walton said: “This second phase is the culmination of over four years partnership working with FCC Environment in order to deliver a strategic solution to enable the council to meet the Welsh Government’s new statutory recycling targets.

“I am particularly proud to see this second phase agreed, having led the council team through the complex contract negotiations for the first phase of the project, which originally developed from our initial plans as far back as 1997.”