The council and technology provider Herhof Environmental UK jointly applied for planning permission for the park, which will include the MBT plant, two weighbridges, an electricity sub-station, a storm water attenuation lagoon and a visitors' centre.
The MBT facility at Lancashire business park, Centurion Way, will have the capacity to process 120,000 tonnes of waste each year. Most of the waste taken to the site will be household waste stemming from Central Lancashire.
A second phase of development for the Leyland site, which would require further planning permission, is planned for a later date. This would see an emergency waste transfer facility, recyclate transfer facility and composting facility constructed.
PFI
If the trial MBT plant is successful, the partnership of disposal authorities in the county – – Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils – could build three more MBT plants to underpin their forthcoming 25-year Private Finance Initiative waste management contract.
Planning permission had previously been granted for a waste management park at Leyland, but had to be updated with the addition of the MBT plant proposal.
Herhof
The Lancashire Partnership is still in negotiations with Herhof to finalise the contract for the plant, but have been working closely with the Irish-owned company on the project. An exact date on the finalisation of the contract is not yet known.
Lancashire believes its household waste recycling rate for 2004/05 will be about 30%, and despite last week's government decision to cap recycling targets at 30% for 2005/06, a spokesman for the county said Lancashire will still be aiming to achieve a 40% rate by next year.
The county's waste partnership believes that through its PFI contract, which could ultimately be worth more than 1 billion, recycling rates could rise to 60% by 2015.
Lancashire appointed law firm Walker Morris to act on its PFI contract this month. The appointment follows a review of advisors by Lancashire county council brought about by the departure of a key lawyer from Masons, the law firm previously acting on the project.
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