Please place your bin out the night before collection to make sure it is out in time for your collection.
All waste that cannot be recycled is taken to an Energy Recovery Facility (EFR) in Oxfordshire, where it is turned into energy.
Grab cranes lift non-recyclable waste into large feeder vessels, called hoppers. Hydraulic rams push the waste into a furnace where the waste is burned at very high temperatures under controlled conditions. The ERF’s operations system works in compliance with the Industrial Emissions Directive; this ensures temperatures of the gases in the combustion chamber remain at a minimum of 850°C for at least two seconds – this ensures complete combustion takes place.
Air which is sucked in from the tipping hall, is injected into the furnace through holes under the furnace grates. This provides the oxygen needed for combustion (burning) to take place. It also creates a negative pressure in the tipping hall drawing air from the bunker into the process.
The fire in the furnace releases gases which are held at >850°C for more than two seconds before being fed into the boiler. Water flows through pipes around the boiler in the opposite direction to the hot gases. A heat exchange takes place, turning the water into steam. The steam is then superheated to around 400°C and 60 bar pressure. Finally, it is released to drive turbines to power a generator.
The power produced by the generator is exported to the electricity grid to supply homes, schools, shops, businesses and industry across the country. Steam produced during the process can be used in a heat network to provide heating and hot water to local homes and businesses via highly insulated pipes. When heat is used in this way it means that the ERF can be called a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) facility.