 Storm clouds gathered over Stratford Old Town Hall as last night's committee hearing threw out objections from residents |
Proposed by Australian-owned Novera Energy, the 25 million plant will use a gasification process to generate electricity from the residue material from the Shanks East London MBT plant next door at Frog Island.
The so-called East London Sustainable Energy Facility (ELSEF) forms part of Defra's 30m New Technologies Demonstrator Programme, which is trialling new ways of treating household waste.
It will process about 13 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel every hour – about 90,000 tonnes each year – generating about 10MW of energy, which will be used by the nearby Ford Motor Company plant at Dagenham.
A hostile audience of Rainham residents at the Old Town Hall in Stratford last night reacted angrily to the committee's decision to back the plant, unhappy at another waste facility being granted for an area already host to a range of recycling and disposal sites.
Objectors also raised questions over with the MBT-gasification system, designed for a 50% recycling rate, would limit potential recycling rates in London.
Committee
But speaking after the vote, the chairman of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, Prof Mike Thorne, told letsrecycle.com: “The committee made the decision – and in my personal view, I had to support the application – because all the ducks were in a row.
“The plant was consistent with planning policy, and all the relevant Agencies were in favour. It was adjacent to the site providing the waste, and will make a contribution to sustainable waste management in the area,” Prof Thorne explained.
Commenting on the approval, David Fitzsimmons, chief executive officer of Novera Energy said, “This is an important milestone for East London and for Novera.
“The UK is facing a major challenge to comply with the EU Landfill Directive, which requires to divert some 30 million tonnes a year of household waste to be diverted away from landfill by 2020. This challenging target provides scope for up to 50 ELSEF size plants across the UK, representing over 2 billion in capital,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.
 A computer-generated image showing how the gasification plant will look |
Proximity principle
During the committee hearing, objectors voiced their concern that the gasification plant would be used to process waste from the rest of London.
But planning officer Sara Purvis and Novera spokeswoman Fiona McIntosh said the plant would be used to treat material from the East London Waste Authority area only. The plant is to take waste from the Frog Island mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant, which is close to an operational start, and to some degree the Jenkins Lane MBT plant in Newham, expected to be commissioned by Spring 2007.
The committee was particularly interested to hear that the gasification proposal would mean residues currently being sent to a landfill site in Buckinghamshire would be deal close to its generation. Committee member John Biggs said: “I would suggest that for future applications, the emphasis should be placed on this proximity principle – it's a very important principle.”
Technology
Despite evidence from local environmental health officers that the plant would not cause a significant impact to air pollution, residents raised questions concerning the Environment Agency's “pathetic” record monitoring emissions from other waste plants.
After the hearing Green Party MEP for London Jean Lambert told letsrecycle.com she was “disappointed” that the committee had not questioned the gasification technology being proposed.
– Jean Lambert MEP
Ms Lambert, who gave evidence to the committee during the meeting, also questioned Novera's claims that material produced by the Shanks MBT plant would be a homogenous material of known specification.
The Green Party MEP described the plant as “effectively mass-burn incineration”, and suggested it would limit the amount of recycling possible in the four East London Waste Authority boroughs.
She said: “One of the most shocking things I heard tonight was that 50% of what is going through the Frog Island plant is considered residue, and they won't even attempt to recycle it. That raises a lot of questions. If 50% is residue then we need to look at the quality of what is going into that plant.”
Novera's spokeswoman said the gasification plant had the support of the Mayor of London, who was against mass-burn incineration. She argued that gasification was a “well-developed and mature technology” used in a “proven demonstration plant in Canada”.
“The Environment Agency has said it will give the plant a permit, which sets limits on emissions at a precautionary level. If the plant were to fail these limits, the Agency would have the power to close it down,” Ms McIntosh told the committee.
Location
While he spoke out against the proposal, local Conservative MP James Brokenshire said he supported the need to trial new treatment technologies for waste management. He said the problem with this proposal was the location of too many waste facilities in one area.
“We do need to explore new technologies to divert waste from landfill, and I have gone on record as saying I'm interested in this technology talked about by Novera. But the current location is a zone of regeneration, and the area already has a range of waste uses within it,” the Hornchurch and Rainham MP said.
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“We have so many waste sites in our area, it's time to share them out more fairly,” Mr Brokenshire added.
Pat Bryce, chairman of the Adams Gate Action Group, said of the planning approval: “It's a complete and utter charade. People expect to see democracy in action: there was a clear message that we do not want any more of this waste.”
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