HRH Princess Anne flew in to the site by helicopter in Friday (26/09/03), avoiding protesters angered at her support for the project.
The facility is the first of three energy from waste plants planned for the county, with two more under construction in Southampton and Portsmouth. Constructed by CNIM, the UK licensee of Martin technology, it will be run by Onyx-owned Hampshire Waste Services and will take 100,000 tonnes of waste each year from the 14 Hampshire councils that make up the Project Integra waste partnership.
Councillor Keith Estlin, executive member for the environment at Hampshire County Council said that despite Hampshire's 25% recycling rate, the county still produces a lot of residual waste.
He said: “Despite the partnership having achieved an excellent record in containment and recycling, there is still left a significant waste residue, in excess of 600,000 tonnes per annum, requiring end disposal. This until now has been landfilled. We must recognise that there is very urgent need to reduce our reliance on landfill. Mass landfill is not good for the environment and is not a sustainable long term option. It is at the bottom of the government’s hierarchy for dealing with waste.
He added: “This energy recovery facility here at Chineham will not only divert up to 100,000 tonnes of residual waste from landfill each year, but as you have heard, will also produce sufficient energy to power some 8,000 homes.”
Standards
Speaking at the launch event on Friday, director of Hampshire Waste Services John Collis said that waste will be burned “to the highest standards” at the plant.
He said: “This is an energy recovery facility where the disposable waste is burned to the highest standards, and its emissions comply with the European and UK standards, the discharges are monitored continuously and that is reviewed by the Environment Agency under whose IPPC authorisation this plant operates.”
Bottom ash from the plant would be turned into road-building material, Mr Collis said, while fly ash would be taken away in powder tankers for landfill.
This week also sees Onyx starting work on a 45 million incinerator to replace the existing plant at Bernard Road in Sheffield.
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