Waste facilities progress – a bird’s eye view

Posted by Maria Vinogradova on 15 February 2013

Perhaps in other jobs there is time to contemplate post-festive January blues and gently ease in to the new
calendar year. 

Not so in the waste industry. The first few weeks of 2013 have seen a flurry of activity regarding waste treatment infrastructure planning and delivery.

Two major energy from waste facilities received planning permission in Leeds, as local planning officers tackled their household and commercial waste loads in one swift move. Leeds is now likely to become the test platform for the increasingly heated overcapacity debate; in reality will both plants be delivered to their planned capacity and will they be able to source enough feedstock regionally to satisfy their hungry kilns? 

The Essex MBT facility, which Ricardo-AEA helped to procure, has also been given the green light and is well on the way to breaking ground on site.

Eric Pickles has been in the news again, calling in a controversial incinerator proposal in Hertfordshire, but then not doing so in North Yorkshire, whilst criticising Europe’s biggest waste project in Greater Manchester as a waste of taxpayers’ money. When does he take a break? And doesn’t he have other things to worry about?

There’s been progress on long awaited residual waste treatment contracts in Wakefield, South Wales and Peterborough, whilst AmeyCespa managed to deliver the first piece of good news since the breakdown of the Cambridgeshire MBT by opening their nearby MRF.

Monitoring developments over the past month, I can say with confidence that our FALCON online waste infrastructure map is getting more crowded. Whilst some of my peers in other organisations are ringing alarm bells about surplus capacities, I remain convinced that this infrastructure surge is a good thing. Most of the plants described above are the fruition of long term PFI plans initiated more than five years ago, which have been held up by a variety of factors, and which are now finally on the way to delivering suitable and robust technologies for the much needed diversion of waste from landfill.

The situation for merchant facilities designed to capture commercial and industrial wastes looks far more complex, and new plans are coming to market, but most are a long way from securing finance, planning consents or feedtsock.

Here is a table of our most recent infrastructure updates. 

Operator	Name	Location	WDA/UA/MDA	Primary Tech Type	Current
ReFood (PDM Group)	Desoto Road	Widnes	Halton	AD	7-In Construction
Emerald Biogas	Newton Aycliffe Industrial Estate	County Durham	Durham	AD	7-In Construction
BiogenGreenfinch	Bygrave Lodge Farm	Baldock	Hertfordshire	AD	7-In Construction
Shanks	South Kirkby Business Park	South Kirkby	Wakefield	MHT	3-Proposed
Spencer Group	Energy Works	Hull	Kingston-upon-Hull	ATT	5-Planning Granted
Viridor	GRREC, Polmadie	Rutherglen	Glasgow City	Mixed	5-Planning Granted
SITA	Charlton Lane Eco Park	Shepperton	Surrey	Mixed	5-Planning Granted
AmeyCespa	Allerton Waste Recovery Park	Harrogate	North Yorkshire	Mixed	5-Planning Granted
Veolia	New Barnfield	Hatfield	Hertfordshire	Combustion	5-Planning Granted
Combined Power & Heat Highlands Ltd	Invergordon	Highlands	Highland	Combustion	5-Planning Granted
Cory, Wheelabrator	Willows Power and Recycling Centre	Kings Lynn	Norfolk	Combustion	4-In Planning
Energos	Knowsley Business Park	Kirkby	Knowsley	ATT	6-Permit Issued
SITA	Billingham	Teesside	Stockton-on-Tees	Combustion	9-Operational
SITA	North East Energy Recovery Centre	Billingham	Stockton-on-Tees	Combustion	7-In Construction
SITA	Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre (CERC)	St Dennis, Rostowrack	Cornwall	Combustion	7-In Construction
FCC Environment	Whisby Road	North Hykeham	Lincolnshire	Combustion	7-In Construction
Viridor	Trident Park	Cardiff	Cardiff	Combustion	6-Permit Issued
Covanta	Rookery Pit	Stewartby	Central Bedfordshire	Combustion	5-Planning Granted
FCC Environment	Greatmoor (Calvert)	Greatmoor Farm	Buckinghamshire	Combustion	5-Planning Granted
Biffa	Skelton Grange	Leeds	Leeds	Combustion	5-Planning Granted
Viridor	Fourth Drove	Fengate	Peterborough	Combustion	5-Planning Granted
Veolia	Pontecraft Lane	Cross Green	Leeds	Combustion	5-Planning Granted
AmeyCespa [Donarbon]	Waterbeach Waste Management Park	Cambridgeshire	Cambridgeshire	Mixed	2-Closed/Inoperational
Hills Waste Solutions	Northacre Resource Recovery Centre	Westbury	Wiltshire	MBT	7-In Construction
Urbaser Balfour Beatty	Courtauld Road	Basildon	Essex	MBT	5-Planning Granted
DS Smith [SCA]	Hounsdown Business Park, Totton	Southampton	Hampshire	MRF	9-Operational
AmeyCespa	Waterbeach Waste Management Park	Cambridgeshire	Cambridgeshire	MRF	9-Operational
SITA	Binnegar Quarry	Wareham	Dorset	MRF	9-Operational
Neath Port Talbot Recycling Ltd	Crymlyn Burrows	Neath Port Talbot	Neath Port Talbot	Mixed	2-Closed/Inoperational
Origin Renewable Energy	Magnetic Park	Desborough	Northamptonshire	ATT	5-Planning Granted

If you’d like to find out more about these plants, how their progress could impact on your regional plans, or how we go about tracking them, contact maria.vinogradova@ricardo-aea.com.