FCC S services in the UK.

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1 FCC S services in the UK. Introduction. Focsa Services (UK) Ltd, an environmental company, is part of FCC, the international infrastructure, environmental services and energy group. FCC has invested heavily in Focsa to give it the necessary resources to support existing contracts as well as those for the future. The company was established in 1989 when the British Conservative Government implemented compulsory competitive tendering. Focsa has been successful in winning many local authority refuse collection, kerbside recycling, street cleansing and grounds maintenance contracts. Some of the very first contracts they won in the UK have been renewed time after time. This is achieved through supplying service excellence and, above all, a value for money service to both local authority and council tax payer. Focsa employs its own bid team in the UK as well as having support from FCC. This helps Focsa to be able to liaise with the client at every step of the tendering process so the company offers the client the services which are required by them. Interestingly, in 1998, Focsa joined with Urbaser SA and this partnership was successful in winning the integrated waste management contract for Herefordshire and Worcestershire county councils. This contract is of a 25 year duration and is being delivered to the two county councils by Severn Waste Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Focsa. The contract provides state of the art waste transfer station infrastructure for the two counties as well as household waste recycling centres (HWRC), a new commingled materials recycling facility (MRF), a landfill site with methane generation - the electricity generated is sold to the national grid. In April 2001, Focsa formed the holding company of Telford and Wrekin Services Ltd (TWS). This was after winning the contract to supply environmental services to the local authorities of Telford and Wrekin. Telford and Wrekin Services Ltd provide refuse collection, kerbside recycling, street cleansing, ground maintenance and highway maintenance services to the citizens of the Telford and Wrekin region. In 2006, FCC acquired Waste Recycling Group (WRG). Through this acquisition FCC in the UK now has many local authority and private customer contracts involving waste and resource treatment. These include the operation of household waste recycling centres, recycling facilities, waste transfer stations, landfill sites and energy from waste facilities, for example, Allington Quarry in Kent and Nottingham s Eastcroft. FCC works closely with all of its subsidiary companies to make sure that their customers receive a first class service. 1

2 Focsa use refuse collection vehicle technology from Spanish manufacturers and adopt their equipment for use for their UK operations as in the photograph above. Waste Collection. Since 1989, when Focsa entered the UK public sector market, the company has been very successful in winning refuse collection contracts. This is because of the support that it has received from FCC whilst also implementing some of its operational procedures and collection vehicle types in the UK market. Focsa provides the public sector with waste collection services for domestic, trade and commercial waste. The key local authority contracts which Focsa operates to date in the UK are as follows: Allerdale - Cumbria, Chester Northern England, Harborough District Council - Market Harborough Leicestershire, Herefordshire, Telford and Wrekin Council - Shropshire, West Devon Borough Council, West Wiltshire and Wychavon District Council - Worcestershire. Refuse collection has undergone a major change in the last decade, to comply with both EU and national legislation with regards to recycling. Focsa Services has been at the forefront, adapting and delivering these changes: ensuring high quality services for their clients. Under the compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) process, each contract normally lasts between five seven years. During this time Focsa maintain a quality and best value service for the client through the operational process and then negotiate a possible contract extension or work towards formulating a new bid in conjunction with the CCT process to re win the contract. Focsa Services use a range of collection methods that have been developed in partnership with their clients to best suit their local needs. This includes the use of bags, 140 litre wheeled bins, 240 litre wheeled bins and bulk bins. 2

3 Focsa has also imported refuse collection vehicle (RCV) bodywork from Geesink Norba (Spain) and Ros Roca to use in its refuse vehicle fleets in the UK. This is due to many years extensive experience using both product types on some of FCC s largest waste collection contracts held in Spain in key cities for example Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Vitoria, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) etc. Other reasons why Focsa has imported these equipment types into the UK are their low maintenance and low noise operation. This shows Focsa s commitment to reducing noise pollution as well as its carbon footprint. In line with EU landfill diversion targets and landfill tax, Focsa have also implemented the collection of green waste. This waste consists of garden waste, for example, grass cuttings, dead plants, and tree prunings. The general type refuse collection vehicle collects green waste, stored in 240 litre wheeled bins, which is delivered to an open windrow composter or in vessel composting plant and is turned into a quality by product which can be used as a soil conditioner. Focsa Services work with their local authority partners to design the optimum solution for them. They can also offer alternate weekly collection (AWC), for the collection of domestic and green waste. This helps local authorities meet their recycling and landfill diversion targets and by using separate waste collection vehicles to collect both waste types, the potential for cross contamination is reduced. A satellite waste collection vehicle used to collect domestic and recyclable waste on Focsa s Herefordshire contract. 3

4 Kerbside Recycling. Focsa have operated dedicated recycling collections for local authorities for many years and have arrangements within the market place that allow for the collected materials to be recycled into good quality products. Key Recycling collection contracts that Focsa operate to date are as follows: Allerdale - Cumbria, Chester - Northern England, Harborough District Council - Market Harborough Leicestershire, Herefordshire, Telford and Wrekin Council - Shropshire, West Devon Borough Council, West Wiltshire and Wychavon District Council - Worcestershire. They have also recently gained contracts in Carlisle - Cumbria and Falkirk - Scotland. Focsa offer a variety of collection systems depending upon the needs of the client/ authority. These can range from a sack based system for paper, through to a box based system for a wider range of recyclables, to householders being provided with a dedicated wheeled bin for virtually all of their recyclables. For each system, a different type of vehicle is necessary. This means that an authority's recycling collections need careful planning so that they fit efficiently into the wider waste management infrastructure and services that are being provided as part of a long term strategy. Focsa Services offers a complete range of collection methods tailored to best suit the local environment. These include commingled, dual stream, e.g. Chester City Council, and kerbside sort, e.g. West Devon Borough Council. Collecting recyclables and sorting them at the kerbside gives a far better quality product for being sold into the remanufacturing chain once the materials have been delivered to the MRF. In the case of food waste collection, by collecting it in a special purpose collection vehicle it means that the by product does not get contaminated with other wastes. This makes sure that when the food waste is delivered to the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant and it is treated, the digestate produced from the AD process will qualify to a PAS 100 British standards (BSI) certification product. The by product will then be suitable to use as a soil conditioner in people s gardens at home, putting back into earth the natural nutrients previously removed. Some local authorities may prefer the recyclable materials collected in a commingled form. This maybe the preferred option where Focsa already carry out the collection of domestic and green waste by 240 litre wheeled bin. This means that the only additional resources required are the acquisition of further 240 litre wheeled bins for each domestic property into which the commingled recyclables are placed. The recyclables are collected by the general compaction RCV and delivered to the MRF where the various recyclable materials are separated at source for remanufacture. 4

5 Focsa Services delivers the best fit solution, optimising service delivery, while reducing the need for multiple vehicle passes of properties i.e. Focsa were one of the first companies to use a fleet of split body collection vehicles initially collecting residual waste and recyclables weekly for Chester City Council, but now recyclables are collected by dual stream vehicles, paper, card, plastic etc. in one and glass in another. Alternatively Focsa collect food waste with the same vehicle but in a dedicated pod (to avoid cross contamination) with other materials e.g. recyclables. This also shows Focsa s commitment to the environment and reducing the carbon footprint as well as noise pollution. A narrow track refuse collection vehicle purchased from Dennis Eagle who is owned by Ros Roca SA. This vehicle will collect domestic and recyclable waste from the narrow streets of the City of Chester. Trade and Commercial Waste Collection. Where a local authority has offered commercial customers a trade waste, commercial and industrial waste collection service, Focsa have honoured these services when they have gained a contract. Commercial waste can be collected in plastic waste sacks, which Focsa can supply to their clients who can request the quantity of waste sacks required, determined by the amount of waste that the business produces on a weekly basis. Focsa offer the collection of trade waste in waste container sizes from 240, 360 and 1100 litres. The collection frequency can be tailored to suit each customer s individual requirements, and, where necessary, the collection service can be carried out on a daily or weekly basis. 5

6 Focsa offers its local authority customers a scheduled collection service, quick response to service calls, safe transportation of the clients waste and, above all, offers a value for money waste collection service for commercial waste. All of Focsa s services comply with both registered waste carrier documentation as well as national and international legislation. All contracts are monitored in conjunction with the client, with regular meetings being held to address improvements to be made and implemented through the life of each individual municipal, trade and commercial waste collection contract. Recycling Services offered to the commercial sector. In line with EU landfill diversion targets, Focsa offer commercial customers the option of separating their cardboard and paper packaging for recycling. Where the client is operating a restaurant or public house, Focsa offer the client the option of having glass collected separately from their commercial waste. The glass can be collected in commingled colours and then separated at the MRF or glass recycling facility once delivered. Focsa also help their commercial clients to integrate recycling schemes into their businesses. This helps to encourage their staff to recycle and protect the earth s natural resources. These services help commercial customers contribute to protecting the environment and the use of natural resources. Where glass is collected separately from the commercial waste, it gives clients a potential weight saving and reduces their costs of disposing of their commercial waste at landfill sites because of this. Street Cleansing and Street Scene Contracts. Focsa offers a variety of street cleansing services. Street cleansing is normally integrated with waste and recycling collection and grounds maintenance contracts. The street cleansing service is carried out using state of the art mechanical cleaning equipment, as well as labour intensive cleaning using traditional brooms. Focsa s street cleansing teams clean thousands of miles of the UK S roads, streets and pavements every year. Focsa s UK core street cleansing activities comprise: town centre cleansing residential areas, car parks and open space cleansing toilet cleansing sweeping and clearing carriage ways gully emptying abandoned vehicle collection 6

7 fly tipping and graffiti removal gum removal Key street cleansing contracts which Focsa operate are as follows: Allerdale Borough Council - Cumbria, Harborough District Council Market Harborough - Leicestershire, Telford and Wrekin Council Shropshire, Weaver Vale Housing Trust Rudheath Northwich Cheshire, West Devon Borough Council, and Wychavon District Council Worcestershire. A pavement sweeper with hydrostatic drive used for Street Cleansing Operations. Street Scene. Focsa are involved in street scene in conjunction with managing neighbourhood environments in communities across the UK. The company works in conjunction with local authorities to deliver the service. The complex nature of Focsa s street based service capability enables the company to understand the complex inter relationship of how best to deliver and integrate the environmental services in each community. Focsa s street cleansing services are well proven to its clients and communities, and delivered to the highest standards set by key performance indicators (KPIS) on each separate contract. Some of the vehicles and equipment that Focsa use for their Street Scene operations. 7

8 Case Study Telford and Wrekin Services. In April 2001 Focsa formed a subsidiary, Telford and Wrekin Services. Shortly after its formation Telford and Wrekin Services signed a contract with the local authorities of Telford and Wrekin to supply municipal services for eighteen years. The core services which Telford and Wrekin Services provide to the two local authorities are domestic waste collection either by plastic sack or wheeled bin, green waste collection, kerbside recyclable collection, bulky waste collection of furniture from domestic properties (chargeable service), commercial waste collection service, clinical waste collection (from medical centres, nursing homes, and medical institutions), emptying of glass, paper, aluminium, steel and plastic recycling containers situated at recycling centres in retail outlets, operation of community recycling centres and the safe transportation and treatment of wastes and recyclables that arise from these sites. In addition to waste, recycling collection and treatment services, Telford and Wrekin Services also offer street cleansing services, litter picking and litter bin emptying, fly tipping clearance, pest control, dog wardens, grounds maintenance to parks, gardens and recreational facilities, gully cleaning and winter maintenance, including gritting and snow clearance. In addition to this, Telford and Wrekin Services operate a vehicle maintenance workshop at their headquarters. Here the vehicles operated by Telford and Wrekin Services are regularly inspected and maintained. Conclusion. If the experience of the many UK local authorities as well as that of authorities in Spain is anything to go by, the people of Telford and Wrekin will, in 18 years time, be pleased their authority chose Focsa to carry out these vital services, and will be enjoying their enhanced environment. One of the refuse collection vehicles operated by Telford and Wrekin Services utilising Ros Roca refuse collection equipment from Spain. 8

9 Waste Treatment. In 2006 Focsa FCC acquired Waste Recycling Group (WRG). This company had grown a strong presence in the UK for many years and was acquired from private equity company Terra Firma. Landfill Site Operations. Shortly before the acquisition, WRG had acquired the non hazardous landfill assets from Shanks Waste Solutions. It did this as WRG believed that through this acquisition it would strengthen the portfolio of landfills which the company already operated, as well as still supplying a short term disposal option of disposing of residual municipal and commercial waste. WRG operates more than 40 landfill sites across England, Scotland and Wales. All of these landfill sites are compliant with the EU landfill directive and have modern leachate control facilities as well as landfill gas extraction and combustion. The electricity produced is exported to the National Grid. Energy from waste facilities (EFW). Eastcroft energy from waste facility. Bletchley landfill site in Buckinghamshire. WRG operates two energy from waste facilities in the UK. The Eastcroft, Nottingham, facility was originally commissioned in the 1970 s and has been upgraded to meet present and 9

10 future legislation with regard to the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) and emission control. In 2009 WRG refurbished the two furnace lines of this facility. The combustion grates are of the mass burn type and can handle a wide range of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and commercial and industrial (C&I) waste with variable calorific values. The upgrades were in conjunction with Martin GMBH, the manufacturer of the original grates. Martin GMBH supplied two brand new combustion lines for the facility and also the latest technology to monitor combustion quality and emission control. There are plans afoot for a third line to be constructed at the facility. A planning application was submitted in August 2007, and approval for the plant extension was given by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in February Once the third line has been commissioned and is operational the facility s annual throughput of waste will increase from 165,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) to 265,000 TPA. The facility accepts both residual (MSW) and (C&I) wastes. The facility is a combined heat and power (CHP) plant that provides steam for heating thousands of homes and public buildings in the City of Nottingham. An artist s impression of the extended Eastcroft energy from waste facility City of Nottingham. Allington Quarry integrated Waste Management facility Kent. This energy from waste facility was built in conjunction with Kent County Council to provide a long term sustainable solution to treating the county s residual waste. The facility can combust up to 500,000 TPA of the county s residual waste. The facility accepts MSW from the local authorities of Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Malling, Dartford, Gravesham and Swale. 10

11 The technology adopted for this facility is a fluidised bed. The grate consists of a bed of hot sand, through which air is blown in order to agitate, or fluidise, the bed and combust the waste efficiently. The Allington complex includes a MRF that treats up to 65,000 TPA of source separated dry recyclables consisting of paper, card, metal, plastic and glass. This material is collected by district councils and delivered to the MRF for processing. Residual MSW is delivered to Allington by district councils separately and is shredded into a suitable size material before being supplied into the main waste storage bunker. From here the MSW is transferred into the furnace for combustion. The facility can generate up to 43 megawatts (MW) of electricity in total, of which some 34MW is exported to the national grid to provide power for the residents of Kent. The Kent Enviropower energy from waste facility at Allington Quarry Kent. Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT). Although WRG does not have an MBT plant in operation in the UK, its parent company, FCC, has considerable experience in operating these types of facilities. FCC operates MBT plants in some of the key Spanish cities where the residual waste is heated and turned into a compost like output (CLO). The CLO can then be used as a refuse derived fuel (RDF) or secondary recovered fuel (SRF) due to its highly calorific nature for use in cement kilns, factory boilers etc. 11

12 Materials Recycling Facilities (MRFS). MRFS handle recyclable materials which mainly consist of paper, glass, cans and plastics. These materials arrive at the MRF after being separated by the public and then collected at the kerbside. The MRFS accept these materials where they are separated further into commodities and then bulked for transport to material processors. Where kerbside collection is not adopted, but recyclables are collected in a commingled form, the recyclable materials can be sorted further by hand or by using automated technology. This is to maintain consistency in the quality of the recyclate to retain it at a high value for sale to reprocessors. It requires a different type of collection vehicle to collect commingled recyclables. FCC in the UK has the necessary resources to deploy the collection of commingled recyclables either by sack or wheeled bin, as well as simply collection from the kerbside by separated at source collection. RE3 Berkshire County Council operation of MRF, recycling centres, household waste recycling centre (HWRC) and residual waste transfer and treatment infrastructure. An example of MRF operations are the facilities operated by WRG on behalf of Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Borough Councils. Through the re3 Partnership, WRG are responsible for managing and operating the household waste recycling centres (HWRCS), managing the source segregation of recyclables for reprocessing. In addition to this, WRG also operate waste transfer stations to accept MSW produced by the partner local authorities. Composting Facilities. One of the new HWRC S constructed by WRG for the re3 Partnership. WRG operate composting facilities across the UK and treat up to 100,000 tonnes every year. The compost produced in these facilities is used for restoration of WRG S landfill sites, 12

13 whilst some is used by local authority customers. The composting technologies adopted in the UK are Open Windrow, Pod and In Vessel composting systems. FCC Wind Energy. FCC is also involved in renewable energy generation in the UK through the development of wind turbines on appropriate WRG operational and closed landfill sites. Conclusion FCC in the UK. FCC has operations in Europe, South America and the United States. With annual sales of nearly 13 billion in 2009 and 92,000 employees, the group brings a wealth of expertise to the UK market. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, WRG and Focsa Services (UK) Ltd. FCC offers longstanding technical and management expertise, a strong operational infrastructure and an innovative and service orientated culture to help customers develop sustainable approaches to resource management. Words Author Mr. Timothy Byrne. 13