Opposition to plans for 10m Worcester recycling plant

Mercia Waste Management, part of Severn Waste Services, which runs waste disposal operations for Worcestershire and Herefordshire county councils, applied to Worcestershire council to build a co-mingled facility at Norton last month.

A computer-generated image of the proposed Worcester MRF

The 70,000 sq ft facility is designed to process 105,000 tonnes of commingled paper, card, plastic and glass bottles and cans each year, and hopes are for it to open in 2008.

However, speaking to letsrecycle.com yesterday, Worcestershire's planning officers revealed considerable local objection to the proposal during the public consultation.

Pete Durrans, senior planner at the council, said: “I can't count the number of responses we've had. The concerns which have been raised are to do with the 24-hour opening, noise, dust, flies and traffic. Some residents have even asked us to extend the consultation period, which ends tomorrow.”

Believed to be worth as much as 10 million, the new MRF would take over from two facilities already run by Mercia Waste Management in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, which are expected to run out of capacity as local recycling levels increase.

Location
Ian Barber, marketing director for Mercia's sister company Severn Waste, who will be building the facility, said: “The location at Norton is perfect for us and readily accessible. In the North of Worcestershire and in Herefordshire we already have transfer facilities in place to bulk up materials collected locally, and thus keep transport movements to the new MRF to a minimum.”

He added: “All the sorting operations will be carried out within the building, with no loading, unloading or storage of materials outside. As there will be no waste or raw refuse coming into the site, there will be no adverse environmental impacts such as smells and dust.”

The application, which was submitted jointly by Mercia and land owners Robert Mc Alpine and Houghton Developments, will now be considered by planning officers.

The officers will then submit a report to Worcestershire's Planning and Regulatory Committee before a final decision is made.