Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Powerday’s managing director Mark Bensted and non-executive advisor Paul Levett said that plans for the site had been redrawn, and were due to be submitted to the London borough of Hillingdon shortly.
The firm had originally planned to develop the facility on a site in West Drayton, a short distance from London’s Heathrow airport, applying for allowances to have as much as 950,000 tonnes of material processed on the site.
However, the proposals were turned down on the grounds that the site would lead to a significant increase in traffic movements in the area, a decision that was welcomed by the local community.
Revision
Powerday has since altered its plans for the site, reducing its application to handle a maximum of 450,000 tonnes per year. The firm has stated it is ‘optimistic’ that the plans for the MRF and adjoining civic amenity site will be approved, having been turned down twice to date.
Mr Bensted said: “The facility represents an opportunity to create long term green jobs in the area. It is our challenge to demonstrate the positives for the development and we have to deal with the negative perception that some residents have. The only issue that planners flagged up was traffic so that is what we have addressed.”
Developments at the West Drayton site come at a period of growth for the firm, which has begun construction of a 330,000 tonnes per year capacity MRF at Enfield. After completion in 2015 the plant will be the firm’s second MRF in the capital (see letsrecycle.com story).
It has also invested significantly in the fuel production line at its Willesden MRF in North London, with the site processing up to 800,000 tonnes of construction and commercial waste per year, and is one of the largest sites of its kind in the country.
The facility, which receives material from businesses across London and the South East of England via road, rail and water (via a canal wharf located at the rear of the site), recovers recyclable materials and aggregates from waste as well as producing RDF and SRF.
Export
Figures published this week by the Environment Agency reveal that Powerday is among the largest exporters of waste derived fuels to Europe. The company primarily exports material to plants in Germany, but has also revealed that demand for material is now developing further afield.
“There is a lot of interest in Scandinavia and we have also had interest from Portugal and Greece,” Mr Bensted added.
However he warned that plans laid by the government in the Netherlands to implement a tax on RDF (see letsrecycle.com story) could disrupt international demand for material.
Mr Bensted commented: “While Europe is hungry for material the economics work. The tax situation in the Netherlands could skew the market. Germany has a big capacity of historic plant that is hungry for material, but if the Dutch do something silly more of their material will move towards Germany.”
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