At the forefront of waste management in Northern Ireland
RiverRidge CEO, Brett Ross, talks to NR on how plans for Northern Ireland’s first waste to energy plant are progressing.
Describing 2018 as a breakthrough year for the company, Brett Ross, CEO of RiverRidge is delighted with how the business is moving forward; consolidating deals and launching a new modernised fleet.
RiverRidge’s plans to open Northern Ireland’s first large scale waste to energy facility are well underway as the project enters final optimisation.
The state-of-the-art, £107m gasification plant is located near Bombardier’s wing facility in Belfast, and once fully optimised, the plant will be able to recover energy from 160,000 metric tonnes of refuse derived fuel each year, and deliver a new source of energy to Bombardier for the next 10 years.
“This is a real monumental achievement for us,” says Brett. “It has taken five years to get to where we are now, but if you look at similar ventures around the UK, five years is a really short time to get a project of this size off the ground and operational.
“The whole team has brought a huge amount of energy to it and everybody in the group feels a sense of pride in it. I think Northern Ireland should also feel a sense of pride as it secures our future in terms of diverging waste from landfill.”
While Full Circle Generation, the waste to energy facility, is a huge part of RiverRidge’s efforts to avoid landfill, the business is also focusing on the recyclable element of waste, with exciting new initiatives due to be launched early next year.
Recognising that there is already a considerable amount of pressure on businesses to recycle, RiverRidge is looking into finding novel ways of ensuring that waste doesn’t end up in landfill by working towards the concept of a circular economy whereby it moves into replacing virgin products and raw materials with carefully treated waste derived products.
“RiverRidge is built on innovation and innovation is what underpins our success. As per our strap line ‘Rethinking Resources’, we are always looking at new ways of taking on the challenges that the entire sector faces and finding solutions that are ‘first of a kind’,” says Brett.
A recent investment in a new ‘Smart Fleet’ has demonstrated RiverRidge’s willing to be at the cutting edge of waste management. Working with Mercedes-Benz, the company has developed a range of vehicles with on-board weighing capabilities and software that can link services from time of service contract agreement, right through to invoicing and reporting, all in one system.
As platinum sponsor to the Neighbourhood Retailer Awards, RiverRidge is looking forward to the 20th annual gala awards dinner.
“The Neighbourhood Retailer Awards are right in the heart of our commercial consumer base and we will hopefully be celebrating alongside a lot of our customers and potential customers on the night.
“It’s great to see retailers getting the recognition for what they have to go through. While business in general might be strong in 2018, a strong market also brings increased operating costs as inflation starts to creep up. There is also the ongoing worry of Brexit. I’m sure they’re seeing challenges on a daily basis and it’s nice to have an evening where you can put those things aside and just have a celebration. We’re looking forward to being there and sharing that experience with them.”
