SITA UKs plans to develop an energy-from-waste facility in South Gloucestershire to burn 400,000 tonnes-a-year of commercial and industrial waste have been given the go-ahead by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
The company announced on Friday (September 16) that Mr Pickles had approved its appeal against South Gloucestershire councils June 2010 decision to refuse the proposals for the plant, which will be known as the Severnside Energy Recovery Centre. It will be located five miles north east of Avonmouth, to the north of Bristol.
Plans for the facility were originally submitted to the council in December 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story). Following their rejection by the councils development control west committee, SITA UK submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in November 2010.
This prompted a public inquiry, held in April 2011, after which the Planning Inspector recommended the proposals be approved. Mr Pickles confirmed he agreed with this decision in a letter published last week .
As well as diverting waste from landfill, the facility would also generate up to 32 megawatts of electricity providing enough energy to serve the needs of 50,000 homes.
This was highlighted by Gareth Phillips, Planning Manager at SITA UK, who said: We are delighted with this ruling and look forward to progressing with our plans to build a clean, modern and much needed facility which has already been granted an Environmental Permit following scrutiny from the Environment Agency.
The SERC will play an important role in waste management in the region, disposing of non-recycled material in a safe and clean way whilst providing an alternative to increasingly scarce landfill, and generating enough energy to power around half the homes in South Gloucestershire.
Avonmouth
The facility would be located five miles north of Avonmouth, an area where several waste and recycling infrastructure facilities are either already operational or have secured planning permission. Among them are plans for gasification, waste-to-fuel and materials recycling capacity all proposed by SITA – and both a mechanical biological treatment facility and energy recovery plant from New Earth Solutions.
The proliferation of treatment capacity in the Avonmouth area is acknowledged in the decision letter for SITAs proposals, where the Secretary of State notes that approving the project would bring materials/energy recovery capacity in the Avonmouth zone to 1.05 million tonnes a year.
The letter states that Secretary of State further agrees that a capacity of 1050ktpa could be fed entirely by waste originating from within the sub-region without threatening the 50% minimum recycling rate sought by the JWCS.
In the circumstances of this appeal, he has placed little weight on the argument that it is necessary to limit the permitted capacity within the West of England in order to discourage the importation of waste from outside the sub-region.
The letter explains that grouping facilities together in one area is more sustainable than spacing them out around the region, concluding: The scheme would bring substantial benefits that, in sustainability terms, would clearly outweigh any harm that might be caused by transporting waste to the facility.”
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