Friday 22 September 2017
A new facility to process waste from households and businesses, prior to export for energy recovery or recycling, will open at Longue Hougue next year.
The new transfer station is being built by local firm Geomarine, on behalf of main contractor Amec Foster Wheeler. As well as a waste processing facility, the project involves the general development of the Longue Hougue site. That includes installation of services, drainage, and access roads; construction of a three metre high flood protection bund around the entire south east corner of the site; and general landscaping.
The main works began on site in July, and already the foundation piling for the transfer station is nearing completion, along with the main drainage network for the site. Several large areas of concrete have also been laid, which will form a base on which the floor of the main building will eventually sit.
The Longue Hougue site itself has been reclaimed from the sea. It was created by forming an engineered perimeter wall, made from rock, which has then been infilled using material from local building and demolition projects.
Steel piles have been driven into the base material, to a depth of up to 28 metres, until they reach the bedrock beneath the site. These will support the transfer station building.
This week, the first concrete section of the outer wall on the western wide was formed. This will eventually support the building's main steel super structure.
The transfer station will receive general household waste from parish collections, as well as commercial waste. The materials will be used to produce a refuse derived fuel, or RDF, suitable for export to an off-island energy recovery facility to generate heat and electricity.
Incoming waste will initially go through a mechanical shredding process, before undergoing magnetic separation to remove metals for recycling. It will then be formed into bales, of approximately one metre cubes, wrapped in plastic film and loaded onto shipping trailers.
On average, around four trailers a day will be exported to the UK, Monday to Saturday. These will travel on existing freight services, using spare return capacity.
The transfer station will also receive food waste, which it is proposed will in future be collected separately from general refuse. This will be pre-processed at the new facility and put into tankers, ready for export to the UK for energy recovery and recycling. Specific odour control measures will be in place throughout.
A number of food waste treatment facilities have been built in the UK in recent years, with more planned. The material will be used to produce gas that can be burned to generate electricity.
Glass will also be delivered to the transfer station, in preparation for recycling.
The facility is designed to process 26,000 tonnes of residual waste, which is expected to decrease as recycling levels increase. It also has capacity for 4,000 tonnes of food waste, and 2,500 tonnes of glass.
The main infrastructure contract does not include a new, purpose-built household waste recycling centre, which is also planned for Longue Hougue. Construction of that facility, which will be next to the transfer station, will be under a separate contract which is expected to be awarded shortly.
A full Traffic Impact Assessment found there will be no significant increase in vehicle movements, either during construction or when the transfer station is operational. There will however be a reduction in large vehicles using Vale Avenue and Route Militaire, to access Fontaine Vinery or Mont Cuet, which will be a positive effect.
