AAL Recycling, which runs the aggregate recycling centre at the southern end of La Collette, has applied to install a specialist waste material washing machine to increase the quantity of matter that is able to be recycled into building materials and minimise the amount that has to be buried.
A letter accompanying the application says that around 200,000 tonnes of waste aggregate is received by the centre each year – around 800 tonnes per day – and that 80,000 tonnes of material is recycled annually.
It is hoped that if permission is given to install the new machinery, a further 80,000 tonnes of material can be recycled.
It adds that the equipment will enable contractors to extract sand from the waste and, when the St Ouen’s Bay sand quarry closes, will provide an additional environmental benefit by minimising the amount of sand that has to be shipped into the Island.
In the application Alan Langlois said that the reclamation site will fill to capacity in 12 months if action is not taken.
Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis explained that the machinery could potentially even enable contractors to ‘mine’ material which has already been deposited into landfill at the site.
‘We have been working closely with AA Langlois on this project which is aimed at refining more solids so we can recycle more aggregate. It could extend the life of the site for quite a while as it could allow them to start mining out of the site to take out more recyclables,’ he said.
‘I am not sure exactly how much longer this could prolong the life of the site for, that is debatable. It could be about a year and a half.
‘If we can take more and more out of the site [landfill] it is good news in that it adds to the life of the infill site and gives us more breathing space.’
In 2008, it was revealed that the Simon Sand quarry in St Ouen’s Bay could be used as an inert waste dump. Asked if that was still the case, Deputy Lewis said: ‘That was on the cards but it is still a long way down the line. Everything is under discussion but there is also La Gigoulande quarry [earmarked as a potential site]. We have got lots of projects in hand at the moment.’
