Recycling plant is a step nearer to completion (From The Northern Echo)

Recycling plant is a step nearer to completion

12:15pm Friday 21st November 2008

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THE latest phase of construction work to create the world’s biggest autoclave recycling plant has been completed.

The £50m project, on the banks of the River Tyne in Gateshead, will make the North-East the leader in waste management nationally, and will treat more than 320,000 tonnes of waste, diverting more than 80 per cent from landfill.

Construction is progressing on time and is predicted to open late next year. The steelwork structure is now in place at the site, known as Derwenthaugh EcoParc, which covers the majority of the five-acre site, and took seven weeks to complete.

The scheme, by Graphite Resources, has been hailed by Lord Kenneth Baker, a former Secretary of State for the Environment, as having the potential to change the face of recycling.

William Thompson, director of Graphite Resources, said: “We’re delighted to see how much work has progressed on site. The steelworks have literally shot up out of the ground.

“Our EcoParc will help to reduce our carbon footprint and produce a useful, recycled product at the end of the sterilisation and sorting process.

This project has already received widespread national interest and is set to further strengthen the region’s credentials in developing environmental technologies.”

Clugston Construction, the main contractor on the development, started work on site in June.

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