18 September 2018
Jersey could earn £90,000 and generate enough power for 100 homes by processing Alderney’s black bag waste.
If the States agree that waste can be imported into Jersey, the island’s 600 tonnes of black bag waste would be processed in Jersey’s Energy from Waste (EfW) incinerator each year. Alderney would pay for shipping and £150 per tonne to cover processing costs.
Following a decision that it was no longer feasible to export all of its waste to Guernsey, Alderney has asked for Jersey’s help. The 600 tonnes produced by Alderney is a fraction of the 75,000 tonnes incinerated by Jersey each year; St Mary, which generates the least waste of all Jersey’s parishes, produces 908 tonnes a year.
The Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Kevin Lewis, said: “This is an opportunity to support our neighbours and for the islands to work together. It is also an opportunity to generate both income and electricity; and to get greater value from the investment that we’ve made in our EfW plant by using some of its spare capacity, all by simply accepting one extra trailer of black bin bags per week.
In order for Jersey to accept Alderney’s waste, Jersey’s States Assembly must first approve a proposal enabling waste to be imported from outside the island. Deputy Lewis is preparing to ask the House for approval on 6 November.
“We need approval because, in 2010 when the EfW incinerator was built, Members were concerned that ash from the process would be buried in Jersey and create a legacy problem,” Deputy Lewis said. “Since 2016, however, we have exported all EfW ash to the UK for recycling, so the main reason for Members’ concern has been resolved and I hope that they will approve this proposal.”
In August, it was confirmed that Jersey’s EfW plant met international standards for recycling, giving Alderney the formal assurance needed to be able to export to Jersey. The ‘R1’ efficiency status, approved by the Environmental Regulator, confirms that the plant operates at a high efficiency level.
gov.je