SITA UK Receives Permit to Supply RDF to Dutch Facility

SITA UK, the U.K.-based waste management firm, has been granted permission by U.K. and Dutch government agencies to supply up to 600,000 metric tons of alternative fuel derived from residual waste to help power homes and businesses in Amsterdam.

Through the program, SITA UK will supply its SITA Northeastern Europe Waste Services’ facility (SITA NEWS) with energy to power residences in Amsterdam. SITA NEWS consists of SITA Belgium, SITA Germany, SITA Netherlands and SITA Luxembourg.

Through the program, SITA NEWS will supply Amsterdam’s Waste and Energy Co. (AEB), with fuel from residual waste that comes from SITA’s waste management activities in the U.K.

David Palmer-Jones, CEO of SITA UK, says, "Supplying SITA NEWS and, ultimately, AEB with residual waste from the U.K. makes good environmental sense while there is still a lack of recovery facilities in this country. We are helping to fuel one of the most efficient recovery facilities that need RDF (refuse derived fuel) at a time when facilities of this caliber are still waiting to come online in the U.K.

"We anticipate that demand for this material will also grow in the U.K. We already have an agreement to supply CEMEX’s facility in Rugby (U.K.) with SRF (solid recovered fuel) over the next few years and will continue to pursue partnerships such as this in the U.K.

"We are also investing around £1.4 billion (US$2.264 billion) over the next three years in new recycling and resource management infrastructure in this country. In 2011 alone we received planning permissions for over two million metric tons of new recycling and resource management capacity and SITA UK is working hard to get this built and ready to begin processing material."

A ship chartered by SITA NEWS will make three trips a week from Tilbury, U.K., to Amsterdam with the RDF. The material will be delivered to AEB’s facility.

The U.K.’s Environment Agency and Dutch Environment Authority, Agentschap NL, have granted SITA UK a three-year trans-frontier shipment (TFS) permit to provide the fuel to SITA NEWS in the Netherlands. The TFS is valid from May 1, 2012, to April 30, 2015.

"The length of this TFS permit reflects the trust which the authorities have in our ability to responsibly source, transport and deliver this quantity of material. It is going to one of the leading facilities in Europe in terms of efficiency, and gives them a much-needed supply from a guaranteed source. We have a great relationship with our sister companies in Europe and are delighted to be working with them to help put waste to good use," Jones says.

The RDF shipped to AEB will be a mix of municipal and industrial and commercial waste from England. The waste will be processed at SITA UK sites, recyclables will be removed and the residual material will be trommelled and shredded before being transported to the Netherlands.