Nov 2022 CLUB VISIT Amey Waste Recycling Centre
Thu, Nov 24th 2022 at 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Organiser Mike Smith. Optional Meal afterwards in Milton.
Come and find out what happens to your Rubbish Bin contents - what goes where ??
We had a tour of the extensive site, just off the A10, where all the Cambridgeshire domestic bin waste is processed - Sorted, composted and redirected as necessary on a huge scale.
This a surprisingly fragrant destination which is regularly being updated and reassessed.
Come and find out more !
Book in with Mike.
Meal option at the White Horse Pub, Milton afterwards :
Visit to Ameys Household waste recycling at Waterbeach 24 November 2022 - NOTES
Started as Donarbon in 2011. 250 acres of Landfill for Black Bin waste. Sorting belts and Composting processes.
BLACK BIN WASTE
They dig big holes for Black bin waste and fill and mound up. Landfill is capped (sealed) in layers.
Costs £2m per a hole size of Wembley stadium – filled in 2 years. Landfill tax is £100 per ton.
More acreage will be needed.
There is no incineration here.
Almost all the waste is from Cambridgeshire.
The Mechanical Biological Treatment plant (huge muncher for Black Bin waste) has been closed for a while to reduce the emissions to comply with Government requirements and to upgrade the plant. We were not given a re-opening date. When working it reduces landfill by 40% Thus, Black bin waste is still sorted but not treated and goes onto landfill. All of it passes through a Hand Picking process to remove obviously too large or recyclable materials.
Polystyrene cups, Pyrex, black plastic, nappies, cigarette ends, plastic plant pots, Recyclable plastic bags if cannot home compost ie domestic waste that cannot go into the Blue or Green Bins.
GREEN BIN WASTE
This bio waste is put in large clamps which reach 60 degrees C which kills pathogens, then sieved through a screen and gives 70,000 tons per year of soil improver for farmers and gardeners to collect for free.
Jon Crisp (Amey Waste Education Officer) gave us a 2-hour visit which included seeing what happens to Blue Bin waste. After sorting, the material is baled for transport into half-ton bales. Paper is sold for £200 per ton, aluminium for £1000 per ton. There is an audit trail for all items.
We were encouraged to avoid food waste and buying foil Xmas wrapping paper and cards with glitter, and to generally Reduce (buy less e.g., the manufacture of a new car creates 16 tons of CO2), Re-use, Repair and Recycle in that order.
We participated in some games to test our knowledge of what is recyclable and where to put different items.
Food waste includes - Egg shells, meat, fish, bones, fruit, vegetables, cereals, garden waste
BLUE BIN WASTE
Newspapers, drinks cans, food tins, plastic milk bottles, cardboard pizza boxes (unless very grease saturated), egg boxes, cardboard, kitchen foil and cling film (unless very dirty), glass jars and bottles, Plastic containers (Including brown and blue but not black), yoghurt pots, Squashed plastic bottles with their replaced plastic tops, Glass milk bottle tops (aluminium foil), plastic bags. (Note : 8 types of plastic are separated by infra-red light) .
A quick rinse to remove obvious food residue is all they require of packaging, tins etc.
We were assured that no blue bin waste is sent to the Far East and 90% is further processed in the UK and the rest in Europe (including paper to Germany).
HOUSEHOLD RECYCLING CENTRES (E.g. at Milton) – ‘The Tip’ is now a misnomer.
These sites are for items too large or materials that cannot go through the machinery used at the Amey plant.
To be dropped off - if they cannot be reused or given to charity shops, clothing banks etc or taken to Supermarket recycling centres, (which may also take crisp packets, biscuit papers, sweet papers etc)
This includes - All Batteries (unless put in clear plastic bags and attached to top of blue bin or taken to shops), all electrical items, empty paint tins (if fairly full and usable, there may be a community repaint scheme), textiles, non bottle glass, CDs and DVDs, tools of any sort, lumps of metals (the most valuable items), toys, books, treated wood and furniture. Also Video and Cassette Tapes.
STATS :
Recycling in Cambridgeshire at 55% of waste - (UK 48% on average)
Plastic and paper can be recycled up to 7 times.
Family food wasted on average - £70 per month (this increases at Xmas) = 25% of global CO2 emissions
175 mature trees are needed for 1 ton of paper
1 Aluminium can manufacture uses same electricity as 3 hours of TV watching
In Landfill the breakdown times are :
Banana skin 1 month
Newspaper 2 months
Wool socks 1 year
Cig ends 5 years
Food can 50 years
Drinks can 200 years
Nappy plastic 500 years
Plastic bottle 1000 years
Glass bottle 1,000,000 years
We were very pleased to be the first visiting group for some time and Jon Crisp will send us a feedback form.
He made it a very informative and balanced Talk & Visit and the tour was well managed.
Contact Mike Smith about this page:
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