Another Teesside based incinerator in the pipeline as council planners recommend approval
Environmentalists are opposing plans for another incinerator on Teesside which will treat hazardous waste.
The facility, due to be sited at Boundary Road West on the Wilton International complex, would process the likes of paint sludge, resins/varnishes, detergents, pharmaceutical items, laboratory chemicals, pesticides, clinical waste and heavy fuel oil.
Redcar and Cleveland Council’s regulatory committee is due to meet later this week to determine an application for planning permission, which has been recommended for approval. The group Stop Incineration North East (SINE) said three of its representatives were due to speak at the meeting to explain their objections.
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It said the facility would be only one kilometre away from the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility scheme (TVERF), which was granted planning permission in 2023 and which will burn residual household waste from several North East councils.
Meanwhile, there were two existing incinerators already in the vicinity, including Wilton 11, which processes household waste transported from Merseyside and Halton, in Cheshire. SINE also pointed out the proximity to nearby housing with St David’s Road and Shakespeare Avenue, in Grangetown, not much more than 400 metres away from the proposed plant.
The matter was called in for consideration by the committee by independent councillor Dr Tristan Learoyd. The Marske councillor was chairman of the regulatory committee when the TVERF received planning approval, although he voted against permission being granted.
A planning statement from the applicant CSG said permission was sought to build a “thermal combustion process dedicated to the treatment of hazardous waste with recovered waste heat that can be converted into hot ambient air, steam, and electricity with multiple applications”.
It already has an existing waste treatment operation currently taking place on the application site, which will be incorporated into the new development. Its capacity will translate to approximately 24,000 tonnes of waste a year - although dwarfed by the TVERF's 450,000 tonnes - with the plant running continuously 24/7, other than for a once a year two week shutdown.
The scheme comprises an office building, storage warehouse and a larger processing building with a flue stack which extends to approximately 36 metres high, along with landscaping in the form of additional tree/shrub planting. Twenty full-time staff will be employed.
Waste will be delivered by heavy goods vehicles, although deliveries will only take place during the day time from 6am to 5.30pm. In its submission CSG said the waste types in question were either exported for incineration or to be disposed of in landfill.
There would be “high standards” of compliance both with safety and regulatory laws. With regards to emissions during the delivery, storage and input stage, an environmental assessment said these would be undertaken within a sealed building maintained under negative pressure.
Exhaust gases from the stack would be treated by a dry flue gas treatment system and “wet scrubber”. These would contain some residual odour, but it was concluded its significance would be "negligible" and “not significant”.
More broadly in terms of air quality, dispersion modelling was undertaken in order to predict pollutant concentrations with a prediction that air quality effects would be “negligible or slight and not significant at all [to] human and ecological receptors”.
A planning officer’s report, recommending approval of the plans, concluded: “The LPA (Local Planning Authority) is satisfied that the development will have no impacts in terms of emissions and impact on human health that cannot be mitigated by planning conditions or other regulatory regimes.”
In its final submission, the body Natural England said mitigation measures were required in order for the development to be acceptable, including an appropriate planning condition or obligation requiring process-related waste water to be disposed of at an appropriate facility outside of the Tees catchment. It said: “A lack of objection does not mean that there are no significant environmental impacts.
“Natural England advises that all environmental impacts and opportunities are fully considered and relevant local bodies are consulted.”
The Environment Agency has raised no objections, but said it would consider “areas of potential harm”, including the management and operation of the facility and any emissions, when considering an application for an environmental permit to operate, as required.
The planning officer’s report said as the development related to the chemical and energy-related industries, it would complement services and companies already on Wilton. It also aligned with council planning aspirations to promote economic growth around major industrial sites.
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