Hull’s £6 million new waste hub has been officially opened.
Waste contractor Geminor has delivered a state-of-the-art facility, that is ready to handle 150,000 tonnes a year.
The St Mark Street operation will process general waste into baled refuse-derived fuel, diverting black bin bag rubbish from landfill. And further sorting technology to enhance efficiency and extract more recyclable materials is also going to be deployed on site, close to the Energy Works plant that it will principally feed.
Read more: £4.5m North Lincolnshire municipal green waste contract stays in the Humber
Exports to Nordic countries are also forecast by the Norwegian firm, depending on the need for what becomes a commodity feedstock.
Geminor chief executive Kjetil Vikingstad led a strong delegation from Scandinavia, linking up with supply chain partners to toast the completion - some seven years in the making.
“We have many hubs across Europe, close to 20, and this one is the biggest investment Geminor has made,” he said. “For a relatively small company, it is a big day for us and we are very excited.”
He told how thoughts first turned to the project in 2015, with the agreement for the Cleveland Street energy from waste plant.
Since then there has been site remediation of the former gas storage location, Brexit, Covid and the loss of the first appointed contractor to negotiate, alongside commissioning issues across the way. Power to the plant was also bolstered ensuring a higher base supply level to future proof the operations.
“It has been a difficult road setting up this plant, and the energy plant, but we are here, and the plant is getting closer to running more stably,” Mr Vikingstad said, with strong praise for engineering partner Keltbray.
“Our goal is to receive 150,000 tonnes. We start with a relatively small volume, 60,000 tonnes from Hull City Council in May, and we will build up, taking in waste from other private companies, and our goal also is to win tenders in the region by Hull to bring waste to the facility.
“We shred and bale this waste, and in the future we aim to develop a sorting line to take our more fractions, with a lot of focus on sorting plastics from waste. We have a goal to produce more biofriendly RDF, taking out plastic through chemical or mechanical processing methods.
“It has been a big task for the UK team to build this project, and we’re very pleased to see it coming into operation. There have been a lot of obstacles on the journey, it has taken more than seven years from when we decided to go for the project, to being finalised.”
Up to 10 refuse trucks an hour could be welcomed to the site once it is operating at peak capacity.
Deputy Lord Mayor of Hull, Cllr Kalvin Neal, cut the British-Norwegian flag-adorned ribbon watched by a number of employees and partners in the supply chain. A handful of jobs have been created, with the number to escalate as volumes and processes are added. The site also features the latest in thermal imaging and artifical intelligence-led fire suppression, with two roof-mounted cannons. Any noise and smell concerns have also been addressed with the technical advances.
Cllr Neal said: “We are very proud of the work we do and the commitment we make to the environment. We are one of the best performing cities for recycling in the country, and we want to minimise the need for landfill. This is a key part of the waste management solution; we want to provide resilient, reliable services for residents and we know Geminor will provide us with certainty that we will always have an outlet for waste we collect. We want to deal with it locally if we can, and the commitment to invest has given us confidence to extend the existing contract.”
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