{"id":3611,"date":"2025-09-20T20:16:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T19:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birminghamname.com\/?p=3611"},"modified":"2025-09-20T20:21:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T19:21:56","slug":"waste-management-strategy-birmingham-a-zero-waste-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birminghamname.com\/en\/eternal-3611-waste-management-strategy-birmingham-a-zero-waste-city","title":{"rendered":"Waste Management Strategy \u2014 Birmingham, a Zero Waste City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The modern history of waste processing in Birmingham focuses on two main types of facilities: waste processing plants for sorting secondary raw materials and waste processing plants for producing fuel or other energy, such as electricity. One such facility is the SITA waste processing plant on Lendor Street. Veolia is a company that converts waste into green electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These plants are similar in that they sort waste, sending what can be reused for recycling and converting what cannot be reused into one form of energy or another. For example, plants similar to the one on Lendor Street convert non-recyclable waste into fuel for cement kilns. But for more details on all this, visit birminghamname.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SITA UK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The company is engaged in waste processing and collection and is a subsidiary of SUEZ Environnement. This plant in Birmingham, which produces solid recovered fuel for processing commercial waste from across the city for the CEMEX cement plant in Rugby, cost its owners \u00a37 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company explains that the waste that arrives at the plant is repeatedly screened and shredded. Metals, plastics and paper are sent for recycling. In addition, anything with a high water or chlorine content, i.e. anything that could harm the cement production process, is removed. This is important, explains SITA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After processing, the result is so-called flakes, which are very similar to confetti and are known as Climafuel. These flakes are high in calories and are ideal for replacing fossil fuels in cement kilns. In addition, the fuel obtained is constantly analysed during production using the latest infrared technology. This is done to ensure that it meets the standards required by the customer, in this case the CEMEX plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another interesting point is that even if the material does not meet CEMEX’s specifications, it can still be used elsewhere as fuel obtained from waste. In other words, almost none of the 100,000 tonnes of waste that arrive at the plant each year ends up in landfills<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not so long ago, a significant portion of Birmingham’s commercial waste ended up in landfills, which are already running out of space. As an environmentally conscious company, SITA would prefer to see this waste put to good use. Incidentally, CEMEX has been successfully burning Climafuel in Rugby since 2007, and what is more, during this time, the share of fuel required for the uninterrupted operation of the plant has been steadily increasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is currently known that the CEMEX plant has supplied and continues to supply Climafuel fuel from a number of plants across the UK. However, the company says that the ability to supply locally, thereby solving the waste problem for the Birmingham community, is very important to the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it first started operating, SITA processed 22 tonnes of waste per hour. In addition, a second Climafuel production plant was commissioned in 2014. It was built on the Malpass farm, next to the cement plant in Rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, the two plants produce around 250,000 tonnes of Climafuel per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veolia ES Birmingham<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This energy recovery plant generates green energy for Birmingham. In 1996, Veolia built this state-of-the-art facility in Taysley, an area east of the city centre. It now receives 350,000 tonnes of Birmingham’s waste each year and converts it into electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy recovery plant was built in accordance with strict European emission standards, which came into force in 1996. This plant was specially designed to process waste that cannot be reused, recycled or composted. It was built with a capacity significantly lower than the total amount of waste generated in Birmingham. This was done in order not to jeopardise waste recycling initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another nuance is that the plant has become a landmark for the city thanks to its building and bold architecture. The plant’s lighting system, which fully illuminates the plant during the dark hours of the day, has also been recognised with awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the plant works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The plant operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and fully complies with UK and EU standards for atmospheric emissions. The only exceptions are days when scheduled maintenance shutdowns occur. The plant operates a two-stream facility with boilers designed to process 23.5 tonnes of waste per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, the existing turbogenerator transmits 25 MW of electricity to the National Grid after meeting its own needs. Veolia ES Birmingham has a contract and obligation to use non-fossil fuels as part of the government’s renewable energy support programme. A significant portion of this financial assistance goes to the city council. As a result of the process, the company itself receives several thousand tonnes of ferrous metals per year for processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ash from waste incineration is a safe ash material. It is recycled by extracting ferrous and non-ferrous metals, as well as by crushing, trommelling and screening to produce high-quality sorted material that can be used as a substitute for aggregate in areas such as road construction. Therefore, all ash produced in Taysley is recycled in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air pollution residues or fly ash are the only hazardous waste produced by the entire process, and they account for only 2% of the input materials. This waste, which is highly alkaline, is transported in sealed tanks and used to neutralise acidic waste in order to obtain neutral filter sludge material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waste management strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Birmingham authorities are keeping a close eye on waste recycling in Birmingham. This is evidenced by the fact that in 2017, the city adopted a new waste strategy. This document was planned for several months, after which it was prepared and refined. The result was a document entitled Waste Management Strategy 2017-2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document was formed as a result of a long period of public consultation and is essentially a roadmap that outlines the key challenges and goals for future generations when it comes to combating waste. This, incidentally, is generated by every resident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, it was known that the city collected 500,000 tonnes of waste annually, and the fact that Birmingham’s population is constantly growing means that by 2031, 60,000 tonnes more will have to be collected. Therefore, there is no possibility of leaving things as they are, and so the authorities’ vision for 2040 is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n