Glasgow poised for £160m waste plant

A £160m recycling and renewable energy centre could be built in the south of Glasgow, after the signing of a long-term waste treatment services deal.

Waste specialist Viridor said the new centre would treat up to 200,000 tonnes of waste a year under the terms of a 25-year contract with the city council.

It will include facilities for recycling, anaerobic digestion and energy recovery by gasification.

The contract is subject to planning permission being granted.

Viridor expects to make a planning application towards the end of this summer and hopes to secure planning consent early in 2013.

The centre is expected to divert about 90% of waste generated in the city from landfill.

The company said the centre, to be built at council's existing waste facility at Polmadie, would make a major contribution towards Scotland's Zero Waste Plan.

Viridor chief executive Colin Drummond said: "It is a further important step in the roll out of Viridor's service contract pipeline and represents a key part of Viridor's growth strategy in Scotland.

"The new plants will have a combined gross electrical power generation capacity of 15MW and Viridor will work with its partner, Glasgow City Council, to maximise heat recovery opportunities.

"The plants are due to come on stream in early 2016."

He added: "At that time, taking account of existing plants and those under construction plus the Glasgow Centre, Viridor expects to have around 1.8m tonnes of thermal treatment capacity and over 250MW of renewable energy capacity."

In February, Viridor announced it was investing £6m in new technology at its glass recycling facility in Midlothian.

The company said its Bonnyrigg site would be only one of three facilities worldwide to feature its "next generation" recycling equipment.

Viridor has also invested £10m in its advanced recycling hub at Bargeddie in North Lanarkshire.