The Energy-from-Waste process

1. Waste lorries unload waste into a bunker where it is stored and mixed. Water sprays and fans reduce the level of dust and odour in the waste reception hall.
2. Air is drawn from the waste reception hall and supplied to the furnace as combustion air, which helps to stop odour and dust escaping from the building.
3. Waste is loaded by crane into a feed hopper. The waste then travels down a chute into the furnace.
4. Inside the furnace, waste is dried and burned at a temperature of around 1,000ºC.
5. Burning waste in the furnace produces hot gases that travel through the boiler, transferring heat to the water running through the boiler pipes. The hot water is turned into steam and the steam drives a turbine that generates the electricity for the plant and the National Grid. The water is cooled and returned to the system.
6. The ash leaving the bottom of the furnace drops into a tank and is transferred by conveyor to the ash storage facility pending its removal from the site. Whilst on the conveyor, magnets extract ferrous metals for recycling.
7. Gases from the burnt waste are thoroughly cleaned by gas scrubbing equipment. The gases pass through several stages of treatment before being released through the stack, which acts as a chimney. This means that it is mostly water vapour which is released from the stack. All emissions are controlled by rigorous European standards (the Waste Incineration Directive). Collected particles from the fabric filter are stored in a silo before being sent for specialist treatment and disposal.