Green light for Lancs county-scale EfW plant

Blackburn with Darwen Council has granted permission to Suez Recycling and Recovery for a £300m energy-from-waste (EfW) facility, which has the capacity to process up to 500,000 tonnes a year of Lancashire’s waste, diverting it from landfill.Phil Riley, council executive member for growth and development, said Suez had submitted a high-quality design for the scheme and had undertaken a thorough public consultation.The construction of the facility, on a seven-hectare site in Lower Eccleshill Road, Darwen, is dependent on Suez securing a contract to continue managing Lancashire’s residual waste. Riley said the scheme, the largest ever approved by the council’s planning committee, could mean more than £300m of inward investment creating 50 permanent new roles. At peak construction there will be 450 workers on-site.The planning application specifies the demolition of an existing waste transfer and MRF in order to build the new plant. The proposal includes tipping, boiler and turbine halls, a bunker, a 90m stack and a three-storey office building, as well as new landscaping.It will have the capacity to provide energy for 60,000 households, every home in Blackburn with Darwen.An environmental assessment, carried out for consultant RPS, says the site, which was purchased by Suez in 2010, is associated with gravel pits, quarries, landfill, brick- and paper-making, coal mining, an electricity sub-station and a sewage works.It says that there is the potential for contaminated soils to be present and that asbestos may be contained in current buildings. It recommends further investigation before land remediation is carried out.The facility is expected to generate up to 266 HGV movements a day. Objections concerning pressure on roads have been expressed by councillors John Slater and Denise Gee but there were few objections based on emissions from councillors or members of the public.Gary Mayson, chief operating officer energy at Suez Recycling and Recovery UK, said he was “delighted” that Blackburn with Darwen councillors had approved the application. The company already runs eight EfW facilities across the UK.