And, an appeal against the Agency’s decision not to allow Octagon Green Solutions to transfer the permit to Midwest Solutions has also been retracted.
Capacity
According to an update from the Environment Agency, published on 6 August, Octagon Green Solutions applied in July to increase the capacity of the landfill site by 90,000 tonnes, to an overall capacity over around 410,000 tonnes.
“The Environment Agency had begun to process the variation and were planning to consult with interested parties to seek their views. On 3 August 2020 the operator withdrew this application,” the statement reads.
Permit
The update from the Agency also included information on Octagon Green Solutions’ latest bid to transfer the environmental permit to a different company.
In March 2019 the Environment Agency refused an application from Midwest Solutions Ltd to transfer the landfill permit at Blaydon Quarry. This is because the Environment Agency felt that Midwest “would not be able to comply with the permit”.
“The landfill permit remains the responsibility of the current operator Octagon Green Solutions”
Midwest appealed the decision in September 2019, and the appeal was to be heard by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), according to the Agency.
The statement reads: “Due to delays following the COVID outbreak and subsequent lockdown the Planning Inspector’s site visit was not scheduled to take place until July this year.
“On 30 June the Environment Agency were notified by PINS that the appeal had been withdrawn by Midwest Solutions Ltd.
“Therefore, the landfill permit remains the responsibility of the current operator Octagon Green Solutions Limited”.
History
Octagon Green Solutions has been applying to transfer its permit to Midwest Solutions for over three years.
In August 2017, it had asked the Agency to transfer the permit for the site to Recyclogical, however the EA stated at the time “that it did not have the confidence that permit compliance could be achieved.”
Less than six months later, in February 2018, the company then applied to transfer the permit to Midwest Solutions.
This was however rejected in a strong statement from the EA which said that one of the individuals at Midwest Solutions “has not demonstrated any relevant industry specific qualifications nor experience of operating a complex waste installation such as a landfill”. (see letsrecycle.com story).
Octagon Green Solutions became the permit holder of the site in May 2013, after it was transferred from Niramax. Premier Waste was the first permit holder for the landfill facility.
Odour
Octagon’s permit was previously suspended in February 2019, following investigations into odour coming from Blaydon Quarry,
The EA also investigated complaints of bad odour later that year in August 2019, after which the operator installed odour suppression equipment at the site, which has planning permission for extraction and landfilling of household waste until 2026.
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