Cornwall Council celebrates Energy Recovery Centre opening

Cornwall Council and SUEZ recycling and recovery UK (SUEZ) have celebrated the official opening of the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre in St Dennis, which aims to generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 21,000 homes each year.

Having become fully operational in March 2017, the centre is part of a network of facilities that together effectively manage household waste from residents in Cornwall, increasing reuse and recycling and putting waste in Cornwall left after recycling to good use as a fuel for energy generation.

In its first year, the facility processed over 235,000 tonnes of waste left after recycling, generating over 150,000 megawatt hours of energy for the National Grid. Established to serve the communities around the energy recovery centre, the St Dennis and Nanpean Community Trust receives a percentage of the revenue from the energy generated by the facility together with funding from Cornwall Council.

Adam Paynter, leader of the council, said: “Today is a great opportunity to acknowledge the success of Cornwall energy recovery centre’s first year of operations which shows that Cornwall can be virtually self-sufficient in managing household waste from our residents. Cornwall as a Council now sends very minimal waste to landfill and we are continuing to look for ways to further reduce this so we can further protect our beautiful environment.”