23 August 2005

New Business for Onyx Birmingham

Leading waste management specialist, Onyx has constructed a new, state-of-the-art, high temperature incinerator in Birmingham, servicing the growing market for clinical and pharmaceutical waste incineration.

The new plant is situated adjacent to Onyx’s existing ISO14001-accredited municipal waste Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Tyseley, near the city centre, which has been in operation since 1996 as part of the company’s long-term contract with Birmingham City Council.

This latest development will have a capacity of approximately 5,000 tonnes per annum, taking 600kg of waste per hour and will be manned around the clock, 365 days per year.

The incineration process will also contribute to the energy production of the existing municipal waste ERF, and will benefit from utilising the same gas clean-up system as the ERF.

A key feature of the new plant is the high levels of security that provide complete peace of mind to customers requiring secure disposal. Strict authorisation procedures apply to the key areas with CCTV coverage of the main parts of the site, including the incineration operation and secure storage areas.

In addition, the whole building can be isolated if necessary, to provide witnessed destruction. Any waste coming onto the site has a complete Duty of Care audit trail and full certification is given if required to prove destruction of waste.

The recently imposed Landfill Directive, which banned co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste from July 2005, has decreased the options available for disposal of certain types of wastes. As a result of tighter emissions controls the number of incinerators treating such waste in England and Wales has decreased from approximately 700 to just over 30, prompting Onyx to invest in the construction and operation of this much-needed facility.