The plans were expected to receive approval on 10 December, but the decision was delayed by a month due to the meeting being postponed (see letsrecycle.com story).
A Coventry city council spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “No planning applications were heard by Coventry’s planning committee in December due to the meeting being postponed until 14 January. The delay in the MRF planning application does not cause any delay to the programme.”
To be developed in partnership with eight local authorities, the facility will have the ability to process up to 175,000 tonnes of recyclate per annum.
Work on the MRF is still scheduled to start in the spring of 2021 and finish in the spring of 2023. It is to be built on the site of some former allotments on London Road, described as “disused and overgrown”.
In-house service
Besides Coventry, the other seven councils involved in the project are Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council, North Warwickshire borough council, Rugby borough council, Stratford district council, Solihull Metropolitan borough council, Walsall council, and Warwick district council. The eight councils believe the MRF will allow them to bring the sorting of their recyclable waste in-house.
“The delay in the MRF planning application does not cause any delay to the programme”
The MRF could also serve local businesses and other local authorities, Coventry city council says.
Only six councils were involved when initial plans were unveiled in response to ‘rising’ private sector costs for sorting, before two further councils came on board (see letsrecycle.com story). Last year, Coventry said it spent £1.6 million a year on its sorting contract with Biffa and claimed the proposed facility would save it around £847,000 per year.
AssetCo
The MRF will be owned by AssetCo, a company set up by the eight member councils and in which each will have a stake.
Once the MRF is built, AssetCo will enter into agreements with member councils to sort its material, with the aim of saving on sorting costs.
Proposals for the facility received unanimous approval from Coventry in September 2019 (see letsrecycle.com story) and received the approval of several partner councils later that month.
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