10:40am Sunday 29th August 2010
IT may not have the white-knuckle thrills of Alton Towers or Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but guided tours around a waste plant in Bolton have been attracting the crowds over the summer holidays.
Residents of all ages from across Greater Manchester have flocked to the Thermal Recovery Facility in Raikes Lane to see how their household waste is turned into electricity.
The fascinating two-hour tour shows the process from the rubbish being delivered by Bolton Council’s bin men to creating the electricity to power up to 7,000 homes.
The Viridor Laing-operated plant, the only one of its kind in Greater Manchester, creates enough electricity to power the process and contributes around seven megawatts to the National Grid.
Residents are able to see the waste being moved from a reception hall into a pit, from where it is loaded into a furnace which can reach temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees celsius.
The dust that the furnace creates is passed under a large magnet to remove any iron-based metals which can be recycled while the rest of the dust is either sent to landfill or used in construction materials. The steam given off by the furnace is used to boil water, which creates the steam used to power a turbine which produces the electricity.
Shaun Openshaw, from Breightmet, took part in one of the tours this week.
He said: “It was really interesting. I work in the waste industry and I think it is great that Viridor open up the plant for people to have a look around.”
Jack Newall, from Blackrod, said: “I am a keen recycler and if we could get everyone to come to an open day like this then maybe we could convert a few more people.”
At the end of the tour, conducted by the bubbly and enthus i a s t i c education officers Alison Heaton and Denise Catley, residents are tested on their recycling knowledge. Mrs Heaton said: “The tours have proved really popular with people. The first tour we had 17 or 18 people and then some more in the evening. People come to and expect to see a big pile of rubbish and don’t realise we are a mini-power station.”
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