At present, Veolia ES is permitted to treat up to 50,000 tonnes of waste from outside the Sheffield waste disposal area at its facility on Bernard Road. But due to an increase in recycling and an overall progression in waste management practices in the city, the firm said that the anticipated level of feedstock from the area going forward is unlikely to be sufficient to ensure the plant operates at its optimal level.
A planning application was submitted to Sheffield city council last week (October 10) and if granted would allow Veolia ES to treat an extra 15,000 tonnes of waste from outside the disposal area at the facility. If granted, Veolia ES will be able to take waste from a larger catchment area including: South Yorkshire; Derbyshire; and Nottinghamshire.
Veolia ES said the change to the planning permit will not affect the overall capacity of the plant, which can handle up to 225,000 tonnes-per-year.
Progression
In its application, Veolia ES said successful recycling initiatives and overall progression in waste management within Sheffield have led to a shift in the way waste arisings in the city are managed. This has seen the facility increasingly rely on commercial and industrial (C&I) waste, from within the catchment area, as a feedstock.
The firm said this situation will become even more pronounced following the introduction of alternate weekly waste collections meaning that it is unlikely that sufficient municipal solid waste and C&I waste will be available, under the current planning permit, to allow the plant to perform to at its optimum level.
Discussing its proposal in the planning application, Veolia ES said: This proposal seeks to definitively address this situation and to invoke the provisions of the condition that allow flexibility in the area from which waste is sourced where agreed with the Local Planning Authority. This will secure the future inputs to the plant and avoid further applications to the LPA.”
Veolia ES was previously granted a six-year variation from the original permit in May 2011, after it had originally identified a reduction in residual waste arisings (see letsrecycle.com story). The permit stated no more than 50,000 tonnes shall be collected outside the Sheffield Waste Disposal Authority Area.
Efficiency
Nigel Williams, director for Veolia ES in Sheffield, said the latest planning application will not lead to any physical changes for the facility, but seeks to increase the amount of waste from outside its catchment area that the facility can treat.
He said: We currently take 50,000 tonnes of our 225,000 tonne annual capacity from a limited catchment outside Sheffield. The planning application submitted seeks permission for this to increase to 65,000 tonnes and includes a slightly larger catchment including additional areas within Yorkshire, North Derbyshire and North Nottinghamshire.
Energy regulator, Ofgem has recently highlighted a fear that the number of energy generating facilities in the country may be inadequate to meet increasing energy demands in the coming years. Facilities such as the one we have here in Sheffield recovers energy from waste that would otherwise be lost by going to landfill. The plant is pivotal to the citys low carbon strategy and it is vital that it operates at optimum efficiency.
A decision on the planning application is expected to take around 16 weeks, with a response anticipated for spring 2013.
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