The company is investing £5 million in a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, with construction on the facility already underway. The project is expected to be completed in March 2017, Trelawney Dampney, Eco’s managing director, told letsrecycle.com.
The plant will predominantly burn oversize material – about 10,000 tonnes annually – from the company’s composting operation.
A second, larger plant – an estimated £200 million project – is also to be delivered by a contractor, with Eco Sustainable leasing out the land for the plant. A decision is in the process of being made on who will be awarded the project, Mr Dampney said, with the choice being between Suez, Veolia, FCC and Wheelabrator.
Mr Dampney added that a decision is set to be made in the next month, with planning permission hopefully following in the next 18 months.
Draft Waste Plan
The closing of landfill sites across the area has resulted in a list of five proposed energy recovery facility site allocations being laid out in a consultation to residents as part of the council’s proposed Draft Waste Plan for Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset up to 2032 (see letsrecycle.com story).
“Councils are desperately looking for alternatives and we’re here saying ‘we have an alternative’.”
Trelawney Dampney
Eco Sustainable Solutions
New sites being considered, subject to consultation feedback, include the EfW plant at Eco Sustainable Solutions’ site in Christchurch, Ferndown in East Dorset; Woolsbridge Industrial Estate in East Dorset; Mannings Heath in Poole; or the extension of operations at New Earth’s facility in Canford.
“Councils are desperately looking for alternatives and we’re here saying ‘we have an alternative’,” Mr Dampney said.
However, “as is often the case,” Mr Dampney anticipates there is likely to be opposition from residents. “Locals don’t like energy from waste – they don’t like waste full stop,” he commented, adding that many of the ‘perceived issues’ surrounding waste processing, such as odour, are unfounded.
“Waste is always a bit of a hot potato,” he added.
Eco
Eco Sustainable Solutions was founded in 1993 Mr Dampney as a composting company. The company has since expanded its operations to biomass fuels, anaerobic digestion and installed a 380-acre solar farm.
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