01 FEBRUARY 2008 - ENERGY-FROM-WASTE PLANT COULD ELIMINATE NEED FOR NEW CHESHIRE LANDFILL SITES

February 1 2008

Covanta Energy, a leading international waste management service provider, has announced proposals for a new 38MW Energy-from-Waste plant near Middlewich.

 

The plant, located at Midpoint 18 Business Park, would be sized to handle all the waste in Cheshire that is unsuitable for recycling or composting schemes. 

 

Covanta Managing Director Malcolm Chilton said: “Our plan is to generate electricity by burning up to 450,000 tonnes of waste annually.  This would virtually eliminate the need for additional landfill sites in Cheshire.”

 

Low-cost electricity from the plant will be offered to around 20,000 local homes. 

 

Local residents are being invited to study outline details of the plans at a three-day Public Exhibition later this month.

 

 

Residents are welcome to call in at any time that is convenient. Members of the project team will be available to discuss the development in greater detail and answer questions on a one-to-one basis. Invitations are being sent to households round the site and to all Middlewich residents and businesses.

 

Among the benefits would be:

·      Discounted electricity for nearby homes and businesses

·      Assisting completion of the Middlewich Eastern Bypass

·      A Community Fund of £150,000 for the first year of operation, and £50,000 for each subsequent year of operations.

·      Only 4% of Cheshire waste be sent to landfill – the current figure is 70%

·      Reduced cost of waste disposal in Cheshire – EfW will be cheaper than landfill

·      Up to 300 jobs during construction

·      Up to 50 permanent skilled jobs

 

The plant would also accept a proportion of non-recyclable waste from local shops, offices and businesses. 

 

At the moment, Cheshire residents produce around 434,000 tonnes of household waste. Almost a third of this is currently recycled or processed for compost, with a target figure of 54% by 2020. This still leaves 46% to be disposed of, ideally without using landfill.

 

Covanta’s proposal addresses the need to deal with this ‘residual’ waste, and would use this as non-fossil fuel to generate electricity.

 

Middlewich is central both to the county geography and population distribution, and is located on excellent transport networks.

Government and EU legislation requires a 65% reduction in the amount of UK biodegradable household waste sent to landfill by 2020 from the 1995 levels.

 

Failure to dramatically reduce our dependence on landfill will result in heavy financial penalties, totalling millions of pounds, which could lead to an increase in council taxes. 

 

Thermal treatment of waste is supported by the UK Government legislation, Regional Waste Strategy for the North West (RWS) and the Cheshire Waste Local Plan.

 

The proposals will be finalised once members of the public have had the opportunity to express views. A planning application, together with a comprehensive Environmental Statement, will then be submitted to Cheshire County Council for approval.

 

Alex Doyle or Deborah Ward, Pendragon Consultants, tel: +44 161 288 2888