West Sussex county councillors approved plans for Grundons proposed 200,000 tonnes per year capacity energy-from-waste (EfW) facility in Ford at a meeting of the councils planning committee this week (July 22).
Oxfordshire-based Grundon Waste Management plans to develop the EfW plant as part of its Circular Technology Park on the former Ford Airfield in West Sussex (see letsrecycle.com story). The Park will take the place of a former block making plant on the 6.5 hectare brownfield site.
Focusing on commercial and industrial markets, the EfW plant would operate 24 hours a day and generate up to 14MW of electricity – enough energy to power 29,000 homes.
2MW of the power would be used to power the plant itself, while the facility will also provide the opportunity for combined heat and power (CHP) for neighbouring land users.
The development, which is expected to create around 200 construction jobs and 60 direct roles, will also house a 60,000 tonnes-per-year capacity materials recycling facility (MRF) for commercial and industrial material, such as paper, cardboard, glass and metals.
Delays
A decision on the facility was originally due last month, but this was delayed by the planning committee in order to address concerns about traffic impacts and vehicle access to the site (see letsrecycle.com story).
‘We are delighted with the announcement that the development of Grundons new Circular Technology Park can now take place. We strongly believe that the new facility will champion the recycling and recovery technologies.’
Neil Grundon, deputy chairman, Grundon Waste Management
Plans for the facility have faced opposition from the local community over concerns about traffic, noise and emissions from the site, but a council consultation with the public in December 2013 found that 62% of respondents were in favour of the development.
A West Sussex council spokesperson said: Planning approval was given subject to safeguards to control the routing, the number, and the hours of HGV movements. Members also asked officers and officers to investigate whether a financial contribution could be secured towards the resurfacing of Rollaston Park.
According to Grundon, diverting waste towards the EfW plant instead of landfill will prevent the equivalent of 28,500 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane, each year. This is comparable to 13,000 cars being removed from the roads each year, the company said.
Neil Grundon, Grundons deputy chairman, said: We are delighted with the announcement that the development of Grundons new Circular Technology Park can now take place. We strongly believe that the new facility will champion the recycling and recovery technologies. Our society is in the process of going through a cultural shift, where we are moving away from being a throwaway society to one which embraces the notion of a circular economy, where all wastes are viewed as resources.
Our new site at Ford will provide a facility that embraces these guiding principles and help West Sussex to close the loop in the circle and achieve its target of zero waste to landfill by 2030.
Strategic
Andrew Short, estates director for Grundon, added: By giving consent at Ford, West Sussex council has provided the opportunity for Grundon to develop a strategically important facility in the county, which will be able to meet the councils ambition of zero to landfill. Importantly this will focus on the commercial and industrial markets, promoting recovery of usable materials as well as treatment of residuals to create energy. It also expands our operational area into new markets, enabling us to provide innovative waste management services to our existing and new clients.
The Circular Technology Park will be located close to Viridors 15 million materials recycling facility (MRF), built in 2009 as part of a 25-year PFI contract with West Sussex county council to recycle material from the household waste stream.
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