The £17 million facility five miles east of the town centre, at Bryn Lane on the Wrexham Industrial Estate, will be capable of processing 80,000 tonnes of waste each year.
It will also see a waste transfer station and an education centre built, as well as an in-vessel composting centre.
The new composting plant will allow the existing green waste collection service in Wrexham to be expanded to include kitchen waste and cardboard. WRG has pledged to control any odours from the process by operating the plant in a negative pressure, and using biofilters to clean emissions.
The site would be run by a staff of around 16.
Meeting on Monday, the county borough council's planning committee also rubber stamped proposals by Waste Recycling Group to upgrade household recycling centres at Brymbo and Plas Madoc.
The centres are to be redeveloped as split-level sites, providing more skips to allow a wider range of recyclable waste to be separated, as well as better access for vehicles.
Confirmed
The council confirmed to letsrecycle.com today that the facilities had been granted planning permission “as per recommendation”, meaning no further conditions were attached than those in the application.
Work is due to start on constructing the new facility at Bryn Lane and upgrades to the household recycling centres in spring 2008, and it is expected that they will be completed and operational by the end of 2009.
Waste Recycling Group said the new facilities will enable Wrexham to meet landfill diversion targets required by both UK and European legislation, and will “allow a substantial increase in the recycling of waste produced by residents in the borough”.
The company, which is owned by Spanish firm FCC, signed a 25-year waste management contract in May 2007, supported by£40 million in Private Finance Initiative credits from the Welsh Assembly (see letsrecycle.com story).
David Rees, the Wrexham project manager for WRG, said: “We are very pleased that the Council has granted planning permission for these proposals, which will provide the capacity to enable Wrexham to meet its recycling and composting targets in the future. This very significant development also underlines the ability of FCC UK – of which WRG is a key part – to successfully deliver new waste and resource management infrastructure.”
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