The £8 million redevelopment of Norse’s recycling facility on the outskirts of Norwich began processing new waste streams on October 1st 2014.
The site’s expansion includes a 3,110m2 extension to the existing building, together with new advanced processing machinery and the latest mobile plant.
In a ground-breaking move aimed at increasing the county’s recycling, seven district, borough and city councils in Norfolk have formed a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with Norse Commercial Services to manage dry materials recycling.
The seven councils making up the Norfolk Waste Partnership, Broadland, Breckland, North Norfolk, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, and South Norfolk District councils, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and Norwich City Council, together with Norfolk County Council will all have board-level representation in the new JVC, Norse Environmental Waste Services Ltd, (NEWS).
The 10-year agreement sees NEWS handle materials recycling from kerb-side collections across the county, including for the first time glass bottles and jars, food pots, tubs and trays and cartons.
The councils have been delivering recyclables into the Norse facility for the last ten years under individual contracts, but says Norse Commercial Director Ruth Metcalf, “This is a fine example of a joined-up approach to waste management and recycling by Local Authorities, and cost-effective service delivery to tax payers.”
“With pressure on local authorities to increase the amount of waste recycled, this commitment to providing a state-of-the-art facility within the county will mean that Norfolk is at the forefront of addressing environmental concern over sustainable waste management.”
“The expansion will save Norfolk’s councils considerable amounts of revenue as we are able to handle much more waste and avoid unnecessary landfill,” said Norse Operations Director Dave Newell. “In addition there will be significant environmental benefits in that we can process waste quicker, and we can now handle the new waste streams.”
Cllr John Fisher in his role as Chairman of the Norfolk Waste Partnership Board, said, “All the districts, along with Norfolk County Council, have worked together to negotiate a new contract which means that materials that people have wanted to be able to recycle for some time, can now be recycled using the kerbside collection service.”
“With the new contract in place, investment has been made in the processing facility and the new technology used means that many more items can now be processed for recycling.”
The new facility is expected to process an additional 25% of material on top of the current annual figure of around 60,000 tonnes.
