New €35m ash processing plant to boost circular economy

Encyclis and Beauparc have announced a partnership deal to build the country’s first processing plant for bottom ash from the waste-to-energy process.

Encyclis is the new name for Covanta, which operates the Poolbeg incinerator in Dublin.

The €35m plant, which is due to be completed in 2025, will be located at the Knockharley waste management complex in Co Meath.

The purpose-built plant will provide a long-term solution for the processing of bottom ash from the Dublin Waste to Energy (DWTE) facility, which is operated by Encyclis.

It will support the country’s circular economy by processing residual materials for recycling and reuse rather than allowing them to be exported overseas.

Construction of the plant is now underway and will support around 150 jobs over the course of the building process and once operational, the plant will employ 15 people.

The new plant will annually process about 120,000 tonnes of ash that remains after the combustion of residual waste at the DWTE facility in Poolbeg.

This will enable the extraction of ferrous and non-ferrous metals for recycling and unlocks the potential to produce secondary aggregates for local construction.

Aggregates derived from bottom ash are not currently approved for use in Ireland – as they are in the UK and a number of European countries – but Encyclis and Beauparc are hopeful that this restriction may be reviewed.

The companies said they are in talks on the relevant regulations with the Government and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with the aim of helping to maximise the utilisation of existing resources for the circular economy.

Owen Michaelson, chief executive of Encyclis, said the company will be working closely with its partners to deliver a facility that helps prevent the export of resources that could be beneficially reused and recycled.

“To achieve a more circular economy, we must maximise the utilisation of existing resources and reduce our reliance on mining virgin resources. For both environmental and economic reasons, it’s important that Ireland has the ability to manage, process and make best use of its own waste by recovering valuable resources from it,” he said.

“This new plant will make an important contribution to that goal, and we are pleased to be investing in infrastructure that drives progress on sustainability, as well as creating long-term jobs and opportunities in the local area,” he added.

Brian McCabe, chief executive of Beauparc, said the company is, at its core, a circular economy business, as it extracst resource value from materials that are discarded.

“This significant investment will not only allow us to generate much more value from the ash that is produced by the Dublin Waste to Energy facility, but also offers the potential to reuse waste material to create aggregates for use in the construction sector,” he said.

“Beauparc is committed to investing across its extensive portfolio of businesses to deliver better environmental outcomes and greater efficiencies,” he added.