First Welsh PFI recycling facility opens in Wrexham

The Wrexham Recycling Park, which is being run by Waste Recycling Group (WRG), is the first of its type funded under the PFI in Wales and will receive £40 million from the Welsh Assembly Government over the next 25 years.

The park will enable Wrexham residents to recycle more than ever, including kitchen waste and creating 1,000 tonnes of compost per year to be made available for the public and for use in local parks and gardens.

Kerbside collections will take dry recyclables from the County Borough's 'Recycle with Michael' scheme, along with recyclables from the council's Household Recycling Centres. An 'in vessel composting' facility, meanwhile, will take kerbside collected green, kitchen and cardboard waste and convert it into thousands of tonnes of PAS 100 standard soil enhancer.

The waste PFI allows councils to fund the development of new infrastructure to meet recycling targets. This one was signed by Wrexham Council and WRG in 2007 and the facility was opened this week.

Attending the special opening ceremony Jane Davidson, Welsh Assembly Minister for Environment, said: “The opening of this new waste recycling facility marks a significant step forward in the collection and treatment of recyclable waste in Wrexham.

"The Welsh Assembly Government has set a challenging target of recycling 70 per cent of our waste by 2025 and diverting waste away from landfill and the development of sites like this will play a crucial part in achieving this.

Jim Meredith, chief executive of WRG, added: "We are delighted to be working with Wrexham Council and to have successfully delivered the first PFI waste project in Wales. It is an important milestone for Wrexham Council and the Welsh people in their efforts to seriously improve the management of their waste and resources over the next 25 years, and WRG is very proud to be associated with this successful enterprise."

Wrexham is already making progress recycling waste, with the latest figures showing the council recycled almost 43 per cent of its waste in the first quarter of 2009 – just above the 41 per cent average for Welsh local authorities.