WRG receives planning permission to build huge MBT plant in Scotland

Waste Recycling Group (WRG) is to develop a mechanical biological treatment facility in Greengairs, North Lanarkshire which will handle 210,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year.

North Lanarkshire Council recently gave planning consent to the plant, which will have a ‘significant’ impact towards meeting Scotland’s zero waste targets according to the council. Scotland is currently working towards recycling or composting 70% of the country’s municipal waste by 2025.

Greengairs is the largest landfill site in Scotland. It is estimated that when the MBT plant is up and running just 25% of municipal waste arriving at the site, which cannot recycled or composted, will be landfilled.

ConsultantsTerence O’Rourke prepared plans for the facility for WRG. Terence O’Rourke director Adrian French said: “The approval of this scheme is an important step forward in addressing Scotland’s future waste recovery and recycling needs, and we are very pleased to have assisted WRG in this innovative project.”

A wind farm has been proposed for the landfill site too. WRG announced this month that it was branching out to the renewable energy sector by building wind farms on some of its landfill sites across the UK. (See MRW story)

The new MBT plant should be operational by 2012.