In November, Sauce-rers Hannah Arnett and Alice Hands visited the Grundon waste management site at Colnbrook, close to Heathrow Airport. The site visit was organised by the CIWM and the visit allowed participants to tour the facilities and discover more about the operation of the different plants, including an energy from waste plant (EfW), a clinical waste plant and a materials recovery facility (MRF).
The Grundon site has long been associated with the waste sector but in 2003 Grundon established a joint venture company with Viridor, to create Lakeside Energy from Waste Ltd and to build the state of the art EfW facility alongside its other facilities. The plant was officially opened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in October 2010 and it has already won a Letsrecycle Award for Excellence for ‘Innovation in Design of a Waste Management Facility’. The plant is currently exporting electricity to the national grid whilst keeping some back to power the plant itself. At the moment no heat is being exported, however this may alter in the future with the possibility of exporting heat to Heathrow.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the site visit was watching the sorting of waste in the MRF, a complex process which involves the use of both manual labour (hand pickers) and machines. It was also interesting to note that the site was extremely clean and there was no smell of rubbish at any point on the tour.
Although located in an industrial setting, the building is designed in a way to reduce the visual impact on the surrounding area via its curved roof (which also apparently helps with easing turbulence for the planes in and out of Heathrow!) and its ‘curling tong’ stack (see image).
The visitors centre, situated on a small lake with access via a bridge, is very impressive and it is here that Grundon gives an introductory talk about their facilities – and even provide much welcomed refreshments!
Overall, the site visit gave a great insight into the clever technology and advanced techniques used in modern waste management.
