The proposed 20 million resource recovery centre would have an annual capacity of 120,000 tonnes of waste. It would be supplied with household waste from a Wrexham county borough council waste disposal contract for which Portuguese-owned HLC is preferred bidder.
Judith Harper, of HLC, said: “The site we were working on and have a planning application for in Wrexham has been sold to a third party. We now have to find a new site, draw up and submit a new application and withdraw the current application.”
The current site was subject to a public enquiry after locals raised concerns over the safety of the proposed incinerator component in the original plans. HLC resubmitted its planning application, replacing the incinerator with a new technology energy from waste plant with a capacity of 48,000 tonnes per year (see letsrecycle.com story).
HLC chose Compact Power to provide a plant that uses gasification and pyrolysis to create a refuse derived fuel which is burnt to create electricity. Ms Harper said that the Compact Power plant will also be featured in the new plans.
Ms Harper explained that the current plans had been delayed by the withdrawal of planning permission and the opening of a public enquiry. By finding a new site, HLC believe it will avoid a lengthy public enquiry and may be able to get back on track with its plans, keeping additional expense from the setback to a minimum. Ms Harper said: “The costs will be offset by not having to go to public enquiry.”
Ms Harper confirmed that the new site will also be in Wrexham, close to the source of collected waste. “We are working with Wrexham to progress this project to its conclusion,” she said.
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