Plans to press ahead with the proposed mechanical biological treatment (MBT) and gasification plant on Sinfin Lane are to be considered by Derbyshire county council cabinet members next week (February 11).
And, the following day (February 12), Derby city council cabinet members will then also consider the report on the proposals, which recommends that the councils continue to move forward with the controversial facility.
It follows the failure of campaigner Dorothy Skryteks appeal against the plant at the Royal Courts of Justice in October 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story). Supported by the group Sinfin and Spondon Against Incineration (SSAIN), she had appealed against the Planning Inspectorates decision to award planning permission for the plant in September 2012.
Should the councils now decide to press ahead with the plans, the MBT and gasification facility would process around 190,000 tonnes of household waste collected in the county. Currently, this waste is sent to landfill or treated outside Derbyshire, which the county council say is not environmentally of financially sustainable for the future.
According to Derbyshire council, costs have been reviewed to make sure the facility, which is expected to cost around 140 million, is still affordable and costs less than sending non-recyclable waste to landfill.
The MBT plant which is to be developed by Shanks subsidiary Resource Recovery Solutions (RRS) is expected to save the councils 2.5 million a year for 27 years. The councils also claim that it would help achieve a recycling rate of 55% by 2020, exceeding the national target of 50%.
‘By 2020, we want residents in Derby and Derbyshire to be recycling at least 55% of their waste but there is always going to be some waste which just cannot be recycled or composted and continuing to dump it in landfill sites is just not an option.’
Derbyshire county councillor Joan Dixon
County councillor Joan Dixon, cabinet member for jobs, economy and transport, said: The county council needs to cut its budget by 157m by 2018 and our current landfill bill is one we cannot afford in the future. We spend 17.383 million a year sending waste that isnt recycled or composted to landfill, including Landfill Tax which costs Derbyshire taxpayers more than 1 million a month.
We do not know how much landfill will cost in the future but it certainly wont cost less than it does now.
She added that there would always be some waste which cannot be recycled or composted and that continuing to dump it in landfill sites is just not an option.
RRS
The 25-year deal with RRS was agreed with the two councils in 2010 and will run from the date the plant opens. If the plans are given the go-ahead, work will continue to finalise the deal with a view to building work starting on-site later this year, creating up to 80 construction jobs.
The facility would then be expected to open on 1 April 2017, thereafter employing 38 people. The plans also include an education centre for schools and community groups.
As part of the contract, RRS also continues to manage nine household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) and three waste transfer stations across the county.
Process
Inside the Sinfin Lane MBT facility, waste would be heat-treated to produce a gas which is then burned to create enough electricity to power 14,000 homes. Leftover ash would then be recycled to produce an aggregate replacement in concrete block manufacture or treated and used as a gypsum substitute.
This process would save 48,000 tonnes of carbon a year compared to sending waste to landfill the equivalent of taking 16,000 cars off the road, the councils claim.
Councillor Paul Bayliss, leader of Derby city council, commented: The city council has to ensure that Derby has a sustainable method of disposing of waste that isnt recycled. This has been a long term proposal, which has been determined to offer value for money and we remain committed to its success.
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