Plans to develop a waste transfer station at FCC Environments waste management site in Sutton Courtenay have now been approved by Oxfordshire county council after previously having been rejected.
The proposals were originally turned down by the councils planning committee in September 2013 over fears of increased traffic at the site (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, it is understood the council is satisfied this issue has now been resolved and the planning committee approved FCCs proposals on Monday (December 2).
FCCs opened an 11 million MRF at the site last month, which has the capacity to treat up to 100,000 tonnes of non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste each year (see letsrecycle.com story).
The location also includes a landfill site which takes in waste from Oxfordshire and West London authorities by rail. And, Spanish-owned FCC operates a composting facility at the site.
The plans approved on Monday will see an additional waste transfer station being built on the site to bulk-up municipal waste collected by South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse district councils.
The transfer station will handle a maximum of 60,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste and 200 tonnes of clinical waste per year.
‘We are naturally very pleased that the councils planning committee has approved our proposal’
FCC Environment spokesman
The bulked-up waste will then be transported to Viridors 300,000 tonnes-per-year energy-from-waste (EfW) facility in Ardley, which is currently under construction in North Oxfordshire.
Waste management firm Viridor signed a 25-year contract with Oxfordshire county council in March 2011 to treat the countys waste at the 205 million EfW plant (see letsrecycle.com story).
Application
Changes to the site outlined in the planning application include: soil storage and screening bunds; concrete pads; relocation of perimeter fencing; and traffic barriers and a traffic light system.
Commenting on the planning decision, an FCC Environment spokesman said: We are naturally very pleased that the councils planning committee has approved our proposal to use the existing recycling centre at Sutton Courtenay to bulk up and transfer waste to the Ardley energy-from-waste plant.
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This decision will ensure residents waste collected in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district council areas will be diverted from landfill and used in the generation of energy. The overall impact will be to reduce the number of road miles used to transport material within the county and therefore to provide a service which is as economically and environmentally sustainable as possible.
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