The French-owned company is planning to hold five public events next month to allow local residents to comment on the proposals to build the energy recovery plant on a brownfield site at Severnside in South Gloucestershire.
The facility would be located midway between Avonmouth and Severn Beach, next to the existing gas-fired Seabank Power Station.
Commenting on the plans, SITA UK's planning and property manager, Gareth Phillips, said: “With landfill tax set to rise to £72 per tonne by 2013, local businesses are faced with increasing pressure to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill: This development could significantly benefit businesses by providing an efficient alternative.
“The energy recovery centre could divert up to 400,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year, which would save £19.2 million in landfill tax (based on the projected 2010 rate of £48 per tonne).
“It could also generate enough electricity for approximately 50,000 homes, which is equivalent to half the households in South Gloucestershire,” he added
The plans for the facility could prove controversial locally, with the Liberal Democrats in control of Bristol city council having already opposed plans to build an EfW facility to Avonmouth to treat the area's residual household waste (see letsrecycle.com story) on both environmental and contractual grounds.
Early stage
SITA UK has stressed that its Severnside proposals are at a “very early stage”, and that it expects to submit a planning application in autumn 2009 “at the earliest”.
If the plans do go ahead, they would involve the company redeveloping an eight hectare site, including making improvements to an existing railway line to reduce the number of lorries needed to bring waste to and from the site.
Despite the proposed plant's C&I waste focus, SITA UK added that “there may be capacity in the future to help manage domestic waste, if there is a requirement from local authorities”.
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