The resource development park is being developed for a possible site in Lowestoft, with the initial feasibility study completed with the help of 117,500 from Defra's Waste Partnership Fund, the East of England Development Agency and the Environment Agency.
 Three days of meetings were held to discuss proposals for the Zero Waste Centre with the local community |
Local residents, businesses and councils attended three days of community meetings to discuss the proposals, with no opposition heard to the scheme according to Suffolk connect, the charity behind the venture.
The Zero-Waste Centre is being designed to take in a “complete range” of discarded materials from businesses in the area, processing them for re-use and recycling. The facility would be set up on 15 acres of industrially zoned greenfields with the potential to expand.
Owned and operated by the community, operational space would be rented out to small and medium-sized enterprises, charities and private companies to make use of materials in 12 master categories.
Model
If the project is a success, its concept could be mirrored elsewhere in the region. Tim Abbot, chief executive of Suffolk Connect said: “This centre will establish a model to be replicated in other areas of Suffolk county as well as in Norfolk county, Essex and Cambridgeshire.”
Some small businesses have already expressed an interest in locating at the centre, while on a larger scale a major construction firm that currently burns much of its waste materials would like to instead send them to the Zero-Waste Centre for recycling.
Maxine Narbugh, research and development officer at Suffolk connect, said: “This facility will reduce pressure on our remaining landfills and prevent siting new ones, while it creates jobs in an entirely new vision of development. This is the way forward for resources.”
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