West Midlands Mayor Andy Street says Walsall is set to be at the forefront of the Green Industrial Revolution, after plans were unveiled to provide energy to local homes from a pioneering ‘waste to energy’ plant.
The Walsall Energy From Waste facility, located at Fryers Road, has ambitions to help export heat to Walsall homes in the form of steam or hot water.
Up to 450 jobs will be contracted during the construction phase of the plant and 50 direct jobs once it is fully operational. The target for completion is 2027.
Andy said: “I am determined that we will achieve our net zero target of 2041 in the West Midlands, and to do that we need to come up with innovative ideas and then, where needed, provide the funding to get them up-and-running.
“This is a brilliant example of that in action. This initiative will power homes here in Walsall by turning waste into energy.
"We're retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient, cutting energy bills for local businesses and making our transport network more sustainable. The West Midlands is leading the way when it comes to the Green Industrial Revolution.
“This project puts Walsall right at the forefront. It's great news that this scheme is set to create more than 400 local jobs and I look forward to seeing residents benefit from projects like this in the months and years ahead."
Rubbish collected to power the plant will come from a range of local and regional waste management companies. The facility itself will replace the region’s ageing fleet of incinerators, which are due to be retired over the coming years.
The plant will be built by energy recovery specialists Encyclis on eight acres of derelict land. The WMCA had originally stepped in with the offer of a £7.5 million investment to help get the project off the ground, but the financial support was not needed in the end.
Energy-from-Waste takes non-hazardous waste – otherwise destined for landfill – and combusts it, generating steam for electricity production. The ash is processed to recover metal for recycling while all gases are collected, filtered and cleaned to minimize environmental impact. The ash itself is used as a material in the construction industry.
Facilities which operate as Waste-to-Energy are one of the only forms of energy generation shown to reduce greenhouse gases. This is due to avoiding methane from landfills, offsetting emissions from fossil fuel production, and recovering metals for recycling.