THE HUGE new waste plant in Basildon can turn sofas and mattresses into a compost-like fuel that can be burnt to generate electricity.

Black bag rubbish, some commercial waste, and even large sofas are ground down, with any recyclables removed, in the new massive waste plant in Courtauld Road, Basildon.

Echo:

Vast: The Echo was allowed inside the plant at Courtauld Road which is undergoing a 12-month pilot

The plant is under a 12-month pilot before the official launch next summer.

The Echo was allowed into the huge site to see what happens to the contents of black bags, commercial bins and bulky items, that would previously have gone to landfill.

A huge lorry depot sees dustcarts empty their loads into large bays, where a mechanical grabber splits open the bags, before the junk is sent down a series of conveyer belts for sorting.

Echo:

Tip: Council dustcart drops its load into bay

Sofas, mattresses and other big items are obliterated through huge metal jaws, before joining the queue.

Iron-based metals, including mattress springs, get pulled out by magnets, plastics and paper gets removed, before staff remove other metals and items that could block any part of the process.

Echo:

Grab: Machine used to shred black bags to free waste for sorting

Echo:

Shredded: Bags are split so they and other recyclables can be removed from the waste (above) and bigger items like dumped beds and sofa collected by councils (below) are also brought in

Echo: ON PATROL: Kay Hughes and John Halliday make a note of dumped furniture to be collected in the Brandon area yesterday, in a joint operation with neighbourhood wardens and firefighters. They aim to clear away anything that might be used by arsonists

About 15 per cent of the contents, including metals, paper and plastics is removed and sold to recyclers by Urbaser Balfour Beatty which built and operates the site for County Hall.

The rest is broken down into aggregate material which can be sold to the construction industry.

Echo:

Sort: Mixed waste goes along a series of conveyors like this one (above) and is taken through a vast network of different sorting devices to pull out recyclables (below)

Echo:

Echo:

Pack: Materials such as plastics, paper, card, and metals removed from waste are baled and sold on to recycling companies

What is left has all water removed, and by the end of the process half of the 400,000 tonnes of waste a year has been removed.

What is left is a type of compost that can be burnt in a special power station to create electricity to power homes.

In the business plan EssexCounty Council hopes to sell this to power tations to create an income stream from the waste.

Echo:

Treat: Water extracted from the waste is purified by going through a series of containers containung acid and then organic bugs in the low builkding behind waste county councillors Kevin Bentley (left) and Malcolm Buckley

Yet, currently waste that south Essex residents chuck in their bins ends up being shipped overseas to be burnt to power foreign homes in the Netherlands.

Essex County Council does not yet have the technology to convert black bag rubbish processed at the site into electricity as was planned, it has emerged.

However, it is currently having to pay to ship it overseas.

Echo:

Out: It is water vapout and not smoke that billoes from the large stack (above and below) that can be seen from the A127

Echo:

A spokesman said: “The technology is not really here yet, but there is a market in the Netherlands where it is shipped to from Tilbury. We have a shortterm contract which we have to pay for to dispose of it.”

However, it is still cheaper than paying about £120 a tonne to send it to landfill.

The water vapour, seen leaving the site through a large chimney visible from the A127 has been purified before it is emitted.

The site charges council in Essex less than landfill fees for the disposal of household and commercial waste.