A brand new waste facility has started treating Leicestershire’s waste as part of a new County Council contract.

The innovative plant at Cotesbach started accepting waste in October 2010. It is set to reduce the impact of Leicestershire's waste on the environment as well as cut future landfill tax bills.

Lafarge Aggregates, partnering with New Earth Solutions, will deal with at least 40,000 tonnes of household rubbish, collected by district councils, which cannot be separated for recycling by residents.  In the first twelve months since the plant opened in October 2010 approximately 40,000 tonnes of Leicestershire's waste has been delivered to the site for treatment.  Of this waste approximately 75% has been diverted from landfill.

The mechanical biological treatment facility uses technology which has been pioneered at the successful test plant in Dorset.

The waste is sorted to remove recyclable material where possible, with the rest being composted in an enclosed environment - well screened from neighbours and with an on-site air treatment plant to minimise odours. The compost-like output may be used to restore the landfill site.

Alongside our aims to reduce as much waste as possible and increase recycling and composting, this new contract is part of the way we’re striving towards dealing with waste in Leicestershire in a sutainable way.

The planning application for this waste treatment plant can be viewed by using the search facility under "Applications & Advice" in the planning pages and entering the application number 2008/0789/03.

The picture below shows the completed Mechanical & Biological Treatment Plant developed by New Earth Solutions partnering with Lafarge Aggregates Ltd.

These photographs show the Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) plant being constructed at the Lafarge Aggregates' Cotesbach site by Dean & Dyball on behalf of New Earth Solutions.

        

These photographs show stages of construction of the plant from January 2010 to June 2010.