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Plans for three EfW plants progress

Last week, the Environment Agency opened consultations on three energy from waste (EfW) plants which together could process 835,000 tonnes of residual waste each year.

Britaniacrest Recycling has applied for a permit for its 230,000 tonnes per year capacity Recycling, Recovery and Renewable Energy Facility (3Rs) in Horsham, West Sussex.

Veolia is developing an EfW plant near Alton in Hampshire capable of processing 330,000 tonnes of waste per year.

And, Grundon Waste Management and Viridor have applied for a permit for a plant in West Sussex of their own, which would process 275,000 tonnes per year.

Horsham, West Sussex

A consultation on Britaniacrest Recycling’s permit application for a 230,000 tonne per year capacity EfW plant in Horsham, West Sussex, began on 13 May.

An artist’s impression of Britaniacrest Recycling’s 3Rs facility (picture: Britaniacrest Recycling)

Britaniacrest Recycling received planning permission for the 3Rs facility at the Wealden Works site in March 2020.

Once operations begin, the facility will generate enough power from West Sussex’s residual waste for approximately 47,000 homes.

“The facility is needed because there is a paucity of disposal capacity in the south-east of England”

Keith Riley, Vismundi

Keith Riley is the owner of Vismundi, an engineering and environmental consultancy which is providing advice to Britaniacrest Recycling on the technology choices for the facility. He told letsrecycle.com: “The facility is needed because there is a paucity of disposal capacity in the south-east of England. There is very limited landfill and residual waste is travelling great distances for energy recovery and/or disposal, much of it being exported to Holland and Germany.

“The 3Rs facility at Horsham will reduce the vehicle miles associated with waste recovery and disposal considerably, along with the pollution and climate change impacts that go along with it.”

In November 2020, Britaniacrest Recycling said construction of the 3Rs facility would begin in summer 2021 and create more than 300 construction jobs and around 40 operational roles.

Mr Riley added: “Britaniacrest Recycling is currently engaged in carrying out the work necessary to implement the planning permission and arrange for the plant to be constructed. There are still some planning conditions to clear and there needs to be some demolition and rearrangement of activities before construction can start in earnest, so it is still too early to say precisely when the main construction will start.”

The Environment Agency’s consultation can be seen here and runs until 24 June.

Alton, Hampshire

The Environment Agency also launched a consultation on a permit application on 13 May for Veolia’s proposed 330,000 tonnes per annum capacity EfW facility near Alton in Hampshire.

An artist’s impression of Veolia’s proposed EfW facility

Veolia submitted a planning application for the plant in July 2020 (see letsrecycle.com story).

The facility will provide enough electricity for 75,000 Hampshire homes, Veolia says, and create more than 300 jobs during construction, plus 40 more permanent roles once operational.

Veolia already operates three EfW facilities in Hampshire, at Portsmouth, Marchwood and Chineham. The company says these are “full” and more capacity is required to treat Hampshire’s residual waste.

Richard Kirkman, chief technology and innovation officer at Veolia UK and Ireland, said: “This facility will allow Hampshire to lead the way in waste management, saving 65,000 tonnes of carbon emissions compared to landfill and delivering a 30% increase in energy efficiency.

“In terms of a green recovery, this represents an important investment in new clean infrastructure that will contribute towards reaching the carbon net-zero target as well as providing new construction jobs and permanent local employment.”

The consultation runs until 24 June and can be accessed here.

Ford, West Sussex

And, the Environment Agency opened its consultation into Grundon and Viridor’s joint application for a permit for an EfW plant at Ford, West Sussex, on 12 May.

A revised artist’s impression of Grundon and Viridor’s EfW plant at Ford, West Sussex

The 275,000 tonnes per year capacity facility is planned for the Grundon-owned ‘Ford Circular Technology Park’ which is based in Ford, 10 miles west of Worthing.

Having submitted an initial planning application in June 2020, Grundon and Viridor submitted a revised proposal to West Sussex county council in April (see letsrecycle.com story).

Michael Turner, area environment manager at the Environment Agency, said: “When we make a permit decision, we use information on the potential environmental and human health impacts of the activity. Our officers have the specialist knowledge and skills that are required to assess this application.”

If approved, the Ford EfW plant will generate 28MW of energy for the National Grid, enough to power around 68,000 homes.

A spokesperson for Ford Energy from Waste Ltd, the company set up by Grundon and Viridor to run the plant, told letsrecycle.com: “We’re pleased the Environment Agency has launched its consultation into our environmental permit application. This represents another key milestone for the project and is a further opportunity for key stakeholders to examine our much-needed proposals for diverting West Sussex’s non-recyclable waste from landfill or being exported further afield.”

The consultation runs until 23 June and application documents can be seen here.

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