The company has started consulting councillors and local residents concerning the possibility of setting up a site near Colchester to use new technologies to treat waste from Essex households.
” We are committed to consultation surrounding the potential scheme and will actively seek to engage the local community. “
– John Boldon, Cory Environmental
Cory is suggesting the project would include a mechanical biological treatment plant suitable for treating 250,000 tonnes of mixed waste each year. This would be residual waste left over after conventional recycling has been carried out.
Also, an anaerobic digestion facility would be built on the site, able to process about 50,000 tonnes of kitchen and garden waste each year.
The site suggested for the development forms part of an existing quarry at Stanway Hall, just to the south west of Colchester. Extending to some 49.5 hectares of land, the site has been identified in the county's waste local plan as suitable for waste management, and sits next door to the Belhouse landfill.
John Boldon, Cory's group planning and communications director, explained: “These sustainable waste management plants would help the county meet government waste targets for Essex, by increasing recycling and reducing the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill.
“In addition, the residual waste from the process would be used to restore the site for recreational purposes, in accordance with the Colchester Local Plan,” he said.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, a spokesman for Cory added that the plants would be “very much for waste from Essex”, rather than taking material from London.
Assessment
A scoping report has now been sent to the county council asking for advice on considerations that should be included in an environmental impact assessment for the project. Cory hopes early local consultation will get the public and local officials onside.
Mr Boldon said: “At Cory we are committed to consultation surrounding the potential scheme and will actively seek to engage the local community and its representatives.”
Essex county council has split the county into two areas in order to plan new waste management facilities to deal with the 720,000 tonnes of municipal waste generated in Essex each year. With a longstanding presence in Essex already as far as disposal services are concerned, Cory hopes its Stanway Hall proposal will cater for the northern area of the county.
A planning application is not expected to be made before the summer, but hopes are the plant could be operational by 20010/11.
Technology
Mechanical biological treatment involves a combination of physical separation techniques – to salvage recyclable materials like metals and plastics from mixed waste – and composting processes to deal with biodegradable leftovers.
Cory's proposal would see material taken into a reception hall before being subjected to the mechanical treatment plant, with composting taking place in enclosed tunnels for a period of up to five weeks. A further enclosed hall would allow material to be matured for up to three weeks, in order to reach standards suitable for restoring the Stanway Hall quarry.
Anaerobic digestion treats mixed food waste and green waste using micro-organisms and heat to speed up the decay of organic materials, taking place in the absence of oxygen.
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Cory's facility would treat material over 21 days at close to 60 degrees centigrade, producing a biogas that would be used to heat the plant, a liquid residue that would be used in the MBT plant and a solid residue suitable for composting.
The Cory spokesman said the company was currently in discussion with a number of companies regarding the proposal, but had not yet identified a specific provider for the technology required.
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