Essent Milieu takes renovated Landgraaf water purification landfill site into operation

Landgraaf, 11 December 2008 - Last week, Essent Milieu officially took into operation the extended and modernised water purification plant at the Landgraaf landfill site. This marked the end to a preparation and construction period of over a year. The new plant treats around 58 million litres of polluted water from the landfill on an annual basis.

The Landgraaf landfill site has a multilayer undersealing which prevents water that has been in contact with waste penetrating the subsoil and reaching the groundwater. This water, also known as leachate, is collected and purified. It is then taken to the sewage purification plant at Susteren. A recent amendment to European legislation is making it necessary for Essent Milieu to extend and modify its purification plant at Landgraaf. The new rules mainly concern reducing the amount of nitrate in the surface water. Essent Milieu has therefore added a biological treatment step to its existing water purification plant. The existing building had to be modified, extended and modernised to accommodate this.

Ready for the future
In the new biological purification process bacteria convert nitrate into harmless nitrogen gas, one of the main components of our atmosphere, via a number of process steps. A 400 cubic-metre capacity storage tank has been converted for this and several smaller tanks installed, as has a container with membrane filters. These are ultra-thin filters which are capable of stopping bacteria and certain dissolved materials in the water. The purified water is then taken to the sewage purification plant at Susteren. The purification there ensures that the water can be discharged on to the surface water without problems. The new plant treats 6,600 litres of water an hour and according to plans will purify the water from the landfill site in the coming decades.

Profile of Essent Milieu
Essent Milieu, one of the largest processors in The Netherlands, offers its customers (governments and companies) environmentally aware solutions to their waste. From it, Essent Milieu separates materials which are suitable for reuse. Essent Milieu produces sustainable energy from incineration and digestion. Vegetable, fruit and garden waste is converted into compost and biomass, an environmentally friendly fuel for generating energy. Essent Milieu's tips supply biogas for the production of green electricity and heating. Essent Milieu is moreover market leader in the production of Green Gas, which can also be used as a fuel for motor vehicles.
Essent Milieu employs 670 people, who in 2007 provided a turnover of over 378 million euros. For example, the company processes almost 3 million tonnes of waste annually at its production sites in the North and South of the Netherlands. At the same time it produces an amount of sustainable energy equivalent to the energy needs of approximately 350,000 households.

Published: 15 December 2008