Hampshire Waste Services has been granted planning permission by Hampshire County Council for a multi-million pound materials recovery facility (MRF) on the A31 near Alton. The facility will be the most advanced in Europe with world class cutting edge technology.

Construction will begin shortly with the MRF operational by the end of 2003. It has the capacity to receive 85,000 tonnes of recyclable materials each year using technology and manpower to sort plastic, tins and paper which are then sent to external processors.

Constructed on the seven acre site, the facility will be subject to a landscaping programme, particularly along the highway boundary, to minimise its visual impact.

The north eastern section of the site will be used as a waste transfer station for the transfer of non-recyclable waste which will be taken for composting, incineration or landfill.

The new MRF forms part of Hampshire’s Project Integra strategy for dealing with household waste. The county’s fourteen local authorities work together with waste contractor Hampshire Waste Services to ensure that our waste is disposed of in the most efficient and environmentally friendly way possible.

Hampshire currently collects more than 840,000 tonnes of waste each year with a significant proportion going to landfill. The county currently recycles around 25% of its waste but has a target to recycle 40%.

"We are absolutely delighted to have been given the go ahead for this new facility." explains John Collis, director of Hampshire Waste Services. "We only have one other MRF in the county at Portsmouth. As recycling has become more successful a second facility has become essential to handle the increasing amounts of recyclable material collected.

"Largely this record is thanks to the people of Hampshire. Around 90% of Hampshire homes now have a kerbside recycling collection and this has proven to be the single most effective measure to ensure that recycling happens.

"Recycling in this age is critical – this facility will become an asset to the county’s waste strategy."

Issued by: Julie Fuge, Polymedia, 01329 663194
For further information contact: John Collis at Onyx on 01962 764000