The facilities are part of a county wide integrated waste management plan
proposed by Mercia Waste Management which has contracted Severn Waste Management
to carry out the project.
Severn which is owned by Spanish firm Urbasa and Spanish-owned Focsa UK aim
to process presorted kerbside material at the Kidderminster MRF as well as some mixed
waste, including organics, through a “dirty” MRF which will allow material to go to a planned
anaerobic digestor. The digestor will be operated by Thames Waste, now owned by
Germany’s RWE.
The energy from waste plant would burn up to 150,000 tonnes of black bag
household and wheeled bin non-hazardous commercial waste per year and the heat
released will be used to boil water to make steam which will be used to generate electricity.
There has been some strong local opposition to the plant which is planned for a
former British Sugar site. The Environment Agency, which has to grant a permit under the
Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control regulations, has received about 100 letters of
concern relating to the application but none of them have raised issues which are not already
being considered. Consultation on the plant has been extended by the Agency which is also
waiting to receive extra information from Mercia about some of the techniques that will be
used in a permit is granted.
Philip Sherratt, area director for Severn Waste Services, emphasised that the plant
was part of an integrated project for Herefordshire and Worcestershire. “We will have a
network of recycling and composting facilities and the energy from waste plant.”
He explained that this will include a MRF for kerbside material at a landfill site near
Evesham alongside a composting plant and a new MRF for kerbside material and a
composting plant in Hereford. The energy from waste plant is in the northern part of the
counties to serve the areas with highest population.
Main contractor for the supply of equipment for the MRFs is expected to be PPS Recovery Systems of
Peterborough.
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