The plant has been proposed as part of an integrated waste facility and environmental technologies complex at the Ince Marshes, near Elton.
” The proposed Ince resource recovery park will be at the forefront of sustainable waste management schemes. “
– Myles Kitcher, Peel Environmental
Cheshire county council have just consulted the public on a planning application submitted by development company Peel Group at the end of January this year.
An application has also been submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry for consideration by the Secretary of State, since it involves the generation of electricity from waste materials.
The major component of the site would be a recovery plant to generate around 95MW of energy from about 600,000 tonnes of RDF each year. The RDF could come from any of the MBT plants being developed in Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and the rest of the North West region.
It is hoped that the facility might be up and running by 2011 to coincide with a new MBT plant in Manchester.
RDF is the residue from the mechanical biological treatment (MBT) of mixed wastes, such as black bag waste from households. MBT is a combination of physical separation techniques to remove dry recyclable materials and composting.
Complex
The proposals for the Ince site also include a 60,000 tonne-capacity materials recycling facility, a 40,000 tonne-capacity in-vessel composting facility and an industrial and commercial waste transfer station.
A 100,000 tonne-capacity MBT facility is also proposed for the site, but most of the RDF for the recovery plant will come from other MBT plants.
Publicising its proposal, the company explained: “We believe that to maximise the efficiency of the plant the RDF power station should serve the wider region. This centralized plant is more efficient than several RDF plants and will be cheaper to build and operate.”
The site chosen would have access to transport links via the Manchester Ship Canal, a proposed rail link and the M56 motorway.
Reprocessors
The Peel Group – under its subsidiary Peel Environmental Ince Ltd – is also hoping that materials reprocessors establish operations at the site to provide easy outlets for recovered plastic, glass, metal and paper.
Myles Kitcher, development manager at Peel Environmental, said: “The proposed Ince resource recovery park will be at the forefront of sustainable waste management schemes.”
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Cheshire council is currently in the process of reviewing its Waste Local Plan. Two consultations have already been held, and officers are putting a draft together which will go to public inquiry in the summer.
Along with an increase in recycling, the revised Waste Local Plan is intended to encouraging the use of “the most up to date waste management technologies”.
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