Brightstar, an Australian company, has planning permission from Derby council to build the facility at the city’s Sinfin Lane site, and a contract with Derby and three neighbouring councils for the authorities to supply waste to the facility.
The company described the technology as one that “takes household waste, separates the recycling component and treats the remainder to produce a gas. The gas is utilised as a fuel to drive engines that produce “green” electricity, which is returned to the electricity grid for consumer use”.
Brightstar is also due this summer to seek planning permission from Kent county council for a similar facility near Canterbury on a site owned by Brett Waste Management. Brightstar said this would take 100,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year.
Wollongong
Brightstar’s first SWERF plant is at Wollongong, near Sydney, Australia. Information required for the IPPC application to the Environment Agency includes emissions data from this plant, which the firm is collating.
Nigel Shearer, Derby’s head of street and waste management, explained: “Brightstar has consent for a site in Derby and is waiting to submit for IPPC consent. It needs to wait for emissions output data from the plant at Wollongong and this is being gathered and is expected in April or May.”
Its contract with Derby lasts only until to 2005 and provides for 50,000 tonnes of waste a year to be supplied to the SWERF. Half would come from Derby and the rest from neighbouring Amber Valley, Erewash and South Derbyshire councils combined.
“We put it on that basis because that is when our current contract expires and we did not want to prejudice it by having part of our waste disposal committed beyond that,” said Mr Shearer.
“Whether Brightstar is happy to build it for that short term period or wants to wait until the new contract is let is up to them. We are as confident as we can be that it will be built but there is no risk to the council.”
A planning condition requires that the waste used at the SWERF comes from the area covered by the four councils. This was imposed under the proximity principle as, “we did not want waste coming in from all over the place”, Mr Shearer explained.
Contract
Derby’s existing contract is with the Waste Recycling Group and the 25,000 tonnes could be supplied to Brightstar without causing any problem under the main contract.
A Brightstar spokeswoman said: “We intend to go ahead with both projects. We have planning permission to build in Derby. We are collecting information to apply for an IPPC licence, and in Kent we expect to go to the planning committee in the summer.”
Friends of the Earth has opposed the Derby facility, and public meetings have been held in Kent by the county council to explain to residents what the SWERF would involve and try to answer any concerns.
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