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Home > News > Another successful shutdown

28th April 2017

Another successful shutdown

Shutdowns at the Suffolk energy-from-waste facility are a normal part of operational life and offer the opportunity to carry out inspections and maintenance work. Undertaking regular maintenance ensures the plant continues to run safely and efficiently.

We manage shutdowns to ensure minimal disruption to the local community, making parking and transport arrangements for the contractors who are working at the site, and confining any night working to within the building itself.

The first of the twice-yearly shutdowns at the facility was completed in April, when we carried out repairs to the lining of the boiler and a major overhaul of the grate (where the rubbish is burnt). This is part of the standard maintenance programme to address general wear and tear of the equipment.

During this shutdown, we carried out a trial to bale and store waste. 1,455 tonnes of waste that during normal operations would go to the Suffolk energy-from-waste facility went to Freedom UK in Brandon during the shutdown, where it was baled and stored. The bales were then delivered for processing when the facility was operational again. This arrangement worked well and we plan to bale and store waste during future shutdowns as this mean we don’t send this waste to landfill and reduces vehicle movements on site during shutdowns which can be a very busy time.