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Mechanical Biological Treatment
Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) is the process used to sort and treat waste from your black binIt recovers any recyclable materials from your bin and 'treats' the remaining waste before sending it to a landfill site or to be used as fuel in an Energy from Waste plant.
This was one of the options considered for the North Foreshore site and was approved by councillors at a special council meeting in June 2009.
How does the process work?
- an MBT plant uses machinery to sort through your waste and removes any material that can be recycled
- the remaining waste is biologically treated in a fully enclosed facility, reducing the total amount of waste by one third
- leftover residue from the MBT plant is then sent to an Energy from Waste (EFW) plant or to a landfill site
- mechanical biological treatment alone will not sufficiently reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill enough to meet European Union targets. To do this, we will also need an EFW plant somewhere in Northern Ireland.
- the MBT process would be independently monitored and strictly controlled by the
Northern Ireland Environment Agency
- arc 21 member councils will need several waste treatment facilities, including two MBT facilities and one EFW plant. However, there is only room for one facility on the North Foreshore.
Photo gallery
The photographs below show different MBT facilities in the UK and Europe. They feature the ELWA Shanks MBT plant in east London, England, the HAASE Energietechnik plant in Neumuenster, Germany and the Frog Island Shanks MBT plant in London, England.Click on the images to view larger versions.
