The announcement follows a two-month public consultation, which the Cheshire Waste Partnership said showed that 84% of residents agreed with the county's preferred approach to waste management.
As well as increased recycling facilities, the approach will mean the county opts for some form of mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility to help reduce the amount of household waste sent to landfill.
” We have already taken on board requests to increase our recycling targets and will be using the consultation response to help us make a properly informed decision on the way forward.“
– Cllr Rob Jordan, Cheshire CC
The plant would pre-treat waste that is not recycled separately in order to produce a solid fuel which would then be used to produce heat and electricity, the Partnership said.
The Cheshire Waste Partnership – which comprises the county and six district councils – has already made a 10 million investment to improve recycling at the kerbside and at household waste recycling centres as part of a joint waste strategy.
Consultation
The county's two-month consultation, which closed in December 2004, asked people their views on alternatives to landfill for dealing with the waste which remains after as much as possible has been recycled or composted.
Of the 9,144 questionnaires returned, 84% of respondents agreed with the preferred approach of the Partnership, it said.
Chester city councillor Rob Jordan, speaking on behalf of the Cheshire Waste Partnership, said: “We are pleased that the Partnership’s proposals have met with such a clear favourable response from the public.
“We have already taken on board requests to increase our recycling targets and will be using the consultation response to help us make a properly informed decision on the way forward for the treatment of Cheshire’s waste,” Cllr Jordan added.
Cheshire generates about 458,000 tonnes of waste each year, a figure that could grow to as much as 714,000 tonnes by 2020, experts believe.
Energy-from-waste
The Partnership appointed consultants Juniper to look into the possible need for energy-from-waste facilities in the county. The consultancy, which released a major report on MBT yesterday (see letsrecycle.com story), said the process could be used as an intermediate step to reduce the council's need for incineration capacity.
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Building an MBT plant would still require Cheshire to build energy recovery plants, or require the county to export refuse-derived fuel to plants outside the county borders.
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