FCC begins work on UK EFW plant

Pictured in group image (l-r): Dan Murphy, FCC Environment, project director; David Lyon, city of Edinburgh Council, head of Environment; Councillor Derek Rosie, Midlothian Council, cabinet member for commercial operations; Councillor Lesley Hinds, city of Edinburgh Council, transport and environment convener; Andy Smith, FCC Environment, project director; Councillor Jim Bryant, Midlothian Council, cabinet member for economic development; Ricky Moffat, Midlothian Council, head of commercial services; John Blair, Midlothian Council, director of resources.

Madrid-based FCC Environment, through its subsidiary FCC Environment UK, has started work on a new energy-from-waste plant serving Edinburgh and Midlothian, U.K. To mark the occasion, environmental leaders from the city of Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils joined executives from the company at the site in Millerhill, Midlothian, U.K. this week.

The $175 million (£142 million) contract to design, finance, build and operate the Millerhill Resource and Energy Recovery Centre (RERC) was signed by FCC Environment in October 2016. The company will operate the facility for 25 years, and will be built, on FCC Environment’s behalf by a joint venture between FCC and by Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI).

The facility, which is set to begin operation by 2019, will treat around 135,000 metric tons of household residual waste a year, and a further 20,000 metric tons of commercial waste a year, and will generate sufficient electricity each year to satisfy the energy demands of up to approximately 32,000 households.

Antonio Alfonso, managing director, head of FCC Environment International, says, "we are delighted to start work on the Millerhill Resource and Energy Recovery Centre. This is an important project for the local community and for FCC. Municipalities and authorities around the world face difficult environmental challenges and this facility will further demonstrate our capabilities in delivering effective energy-from-waste solutions under a public-private partnership approach.”

In addition to work on the Millerhill Resource and Energy Recovery Centre (RERC), FCC has also recently opened an energy from waste (EfW) facility in Buckinghamshire, U.K. In the US FCC is currently constructing on a Materials Recycling Facility on the McCommas Bluff Landfill site in southern Dallas, Texas, and the company has also been shortlisted for the Belgrade EfW facility in Serbia.