BIFFA Waste Services manage and treat an extensive range of municipal waste at their site in Horsham, West Sussex and a new Mechanical Biological Facility (MBT) facility was being developed to allow large-scale recycling. M+W provide project management and technical expertise for the installation and commissioned an independent survey of the extract and odour control installation associated with this new facility, and specifically, to consider arrangements in respect of the Dangerous Substances Explosive Atmosphere Regulations 2002 (DSEAR).
The key objective was to determine duties under DSEAR in regard to the extract and odour control system, and to comment on relevant hazards and control measures employed. Martin Moy and Gus Collins carried out this risk assessment with supporting information from Matt Wilkes, Technical Director, Odour Services International Ltd. (OSIL) and other members of the project management team on-site.
Facilities at the Horsham plant include a large recycling building which will incorporate traditional dry recycling operations and use of recent AD technology to recover energy from biodegradable materials – both commercial and municipal waste streams can be accommodated. There is extensive overlap of plant utilisation designed into the process and not least the extract and odour control system which will be applied to both modes of recycling.
Traditional dry recycling methodology involves significant dust generation due to almost continuous conveying, shredding and handling operations. The process design aims to use captive extract hoods at source and remove it via enclosed ducting to a safe area outside.
It was recommended there should be a future review of activities as the scale of production increases as many waste materials are flammable and ventilation, pressure relief, containment measures and protection of electrics are key DSEAR considerations and could not be properly assessed at the stage of the project.
However the assessment did raise a number of actions to be considered and the action plan provided direction to the design team.