Tradebe has been granted an environmental permit for a waste treatment facility in Bellshill, near Glasgow, which will process nearly 25,000 tonnes of healthcare waste a year.
The plant is being developed under a 10-year contract between NHS Scotland and Tradebe Healthcare, the healthcare arm of Spanish-owned waste management business Tradebe.
Awarded in February 2019 (see letsrecycle.com story), the contract covers the collection and disposal of waste from healthcare providers across Scotland.
Tradebe said the 24,900 tonne capacity plant will be operational ‘soon’
Based on Inchinnan Road, the site received planning permission from North Lanarkshire council in the summer and will consist of a clinical waste storage, transfer and treatment facility.
While not giving an exact timeframe, Tradebe said the plant would be open to receive waste “as soon as operational commissioning and final regulatory validation steps are completed which is expected shortly”.
Process
According to Tradebe, healthcare waste brought to the plant will be either bulked up and sent off site for incineration or disposal at landfill, or treated on site via a shredder, steam auger and drier before compaction.
The company added the objective of the waste treatment process is to “disinfect clinical waste with heat to render it safe and unrecognisable, and to produce a waste floc that meets a specification suitable for use in an energy from waste plant”.
Lynne King, divisional director for Tradebe Healthcare, said: “We are delighted that SEPA has granted our environmental permit enabling us to commence operations at Bellshill, and we will very shortly be open to service both NHS and Non-NHS customers.”
“We will very shortly be open to service both NHS and Non-NHS customers”
Ms King added: “We are very proud of our latest facility which builds on our experience of owning and operating four similar plants in England and Wales. We have introduced equipment and processes which will enable us to optimise operations for NHS Scotland as well as creating a zero-waste to landfill solution that’s aligned with the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Plan.”
HES
Tradebe Healthcare secured the deal with Scottish healthcare facilities in February after the collapse of Healthcare Environmental Services last year.
Waste is currently being transported 250 miles to a facility in Wrexham until the Bellshill plant comes online.
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) said in the acceptance document that it is satisfied that the plant meets a number of conditions, including not causing “significant pollution” and that the applicant is a fit and proper person.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
