Jones Bros show students the future of waste26th Nov 2013

Students from a Wrexham college had the opportunity to visit the site of a new multi-million pound project that will improve recycling and convert household waste residues into clean energy.

The Welsh Baccalaureate students, from Coleg Cambria, enjoyed a tour of the mechanical biological treatment plant (MBT) at Wrexham Recycling Park to see how it is being developed.

Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK, whose engineers led the tour, is close to completing work on the FCC Environment site which will extract valuable recyclable material from domestic refuse and transform the residue into fuel for a multifuel power generation facility.

The students learned how Jones Bros overcame a number of challenges during the project including re-locating a badger sett and finding an innovative method of working around three 33,000 volt electrical cables that were on the existing site.

A key aspect of the project was the construction of the five concrete drying tunnels. Each measuring 35m in length, 8m in width and 5.5m in height, the tunnels allow residual household waste to go through a drying process that results in a fuel that can be transformed into green energy.

Caroline Wix, Environmental Education Officer for Wrexham Council, said: ” Young people need to learn about some of the economic and technological developments going on in Wales, within the context of sustainability, as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification . A visit to the recycling centre and the new MBT site has helped the students do just this.”

Ruthin-based Jones Bros also constructed a 9m bridge to allow access to the site across a watercourse.

The project is on schedule to be completed before the end of this year, with processing machinery due to be installed at the MBT plant in the New Year. As the project’s main contractor Jones Bros will maintain a presence on site until its scheduled completion in July 2014.