Waste management firm Viridor has expressed its disappointment at East Lothian council’s decision to reject planning permission for its Dunbar combined heat and power plant despite “strong recommendation” for approval from the council’s planning officers.

East Lothian’s planning committee yesterday (September 1) voted unanimously against the company’s proposal to build a 300,000 tonnes-a-year capacity energy-from-waste facility on land at its existing Oxwellmains landfill site, which lies 40km east of Edinburgh.

Another EfW Plant Rejected

This was despite the planning documents containing a recommendation from planning officers to approve the project subject to a number of conditions – including beginning operations within three years of approval being granted.

The spokesman said that, under new planning controls, the councillors would now have a “few weeks” to formulate a document outlining the reasons why they refused permission.

Commenting on the rejection, Steve Don, Viridor’s Scottish regional manager, said: “Despite a recognition of need, SEPA describing the proposal as the ‘best practical environmental option’ and a strong recommendation for approval from East Lothian council professional officers, Viridor is disappointed that councillors chose to refuse our application.

Proposal
Under the proposal, the Dunbar facility would have been used to process 150,000 tonnes-a-year of municipal residual waste collected from Edinburgh and East and Mid-Lothian councils, and 150,000 tonnes-a-year of commercial and industrial residual waste from the surrounding region.

Viridor had previously revised its planning application for the proposed Dunbar facility in May 2008 following a public consultation, which saw its initial 450,000 tonne-a-year capacity proposal scaled-down to “reflect local need” (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr Don added: “With ambitious Scottish and European Zero Waste targets we need both increased recycling and smarter ways of managing residual waste. Whilst this decision will inevitably delay our journey to sustainability, we will be reviewing in due course.”

The spokesman for East Lothian said that he expected Viridor to appeal against the decision, which would “probably be subject to a public inquiry”. More here.

Just when will our society realise that when everyone produces such large quantities of waste, the waste HAS to be processed and disposed of somehow, and somewhere, and that it is unreasonable to expect to send it out of the area in which the waste was created!

In our first case the Surrey County Council Energy from Waste (EfW) facility, which only received planning permission in October 2008, now looks set to face further delays after a successful challenge against its development by the local parish council. Surrey Waste Management’s proposal for the facility at the Clockhouse Brickworks site in Capel, Surrey, has suffered a myriad of set-backs and challenges since the original planning permission, granted as far back as 2002, was overturned.

An official judgment is expected to have been made by the end of February (after this issue has gone to press). The 100000 tonnes capacity facility was intended to be operational in 2012 as part of a PFI-funded deal between Sita subsidiary, Surrey Waste Management, and the county council.

Our second problem waste processing facility in Cornwall has been rejected and new plans must be drawn up, so the problem is really serious for the citizens of Cornwall. The following is an extract from the BBC News item highlighting the problem:

New county waste plans ‘needed’

An alternative strategy for dealing with Cornwall’s waste needs to be drawn up as soon as possible, a council scrutiny committee has ruled.

The call to Cornwall Council comes after plans by waste company Sita for an incinerator at St Dennis were refused two weeks ago.

Sita then withdrew proposals for a waste centre at Scorrier last week.

The council will decide whether to follow the recommendation for a waste plan after elections later in the year.

Cornwall Council’s Environment Policy and Development Scrutiny Committee recommended that a dedicated panel be set up to look at alternatives.

The committee’s chairman, independent councillor Mark Kaczmarek, said: “It is essential that Cornwall has a clear way forward to deal with its waste.

“Our remaining landfill is running out. Far too much time and money has been wasted over the last few years and no solution to Cornwall’s waste disposal has been created. Cornwall Council must make this issue a priority.”

The full council will decide whether to follow the recommendation for a waste plan after it holds its elections in June.

County councillors voted 20-to-one on 26 March against Sita’s bid to build a waste-to-energy incinerator in the county. Planning officials had advised the council to grant the application.

The £117m waste-to-energy plant would have handled all of Cornwall’s waste – an estimated 240,000 tonnes of waste a year which would, in turn, have generated power for thousands of homes across the county. More here.

Wiltshire county council has given the go-ahead for Marlborough-based waste management company Hills Group to build a £15 million mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility at Westbury.

The county council awarded planning permission last week (March 18) for Hills to develop the 45,000 tonne-a-year capacity plant, which will be known as the Northacre Recovery Centre, as part of its contract to dispose of Wiltshire’s residual household waste.

Hills also intends to build a £1 million household waste and recycling centre at the Stephenson Road site in Westbury.

Speaking after the approval, Alan Pardoe, chairman of Hills Group, said: “We are delighted by today’s decision. This plant is a key element of Wiltshire’s overall war on waste and means that we can look forward to the day when at least 85 per cent of the county’s waste can be diverted from landfill. It adds up to a much more sustainable future.”

Originally, Hills had planned to send 30,000 tonnes of solid recovered fuel (SRF) generated by the proposed plant to be used in a cement kiln run by Lafarge Aggregates in Westbury before Lafarge was forced to mothball the operation due to the effect the economic downturn had on the construction market. However, the firm said it was now in talks to send the fuel elsewhere.

Mr Pardoe said: “Fuels of this type that reduce both waste and CO2 have a big future in the UK. We are already in discussions with other end-users and are confident that other outlets will be found for this fuel.”

A spokeswoman for Wiltshire county council confirmed that contract negotiations for the SRF were underway.

See letsrecycle.com story.