By Ben Messenger
Managing Editor of Waste Management World magazine

The London Borough of Sutton’s Development Control Committee has given the green light to Viridor’s 26 MW waste to energy facility, to be built in Beddington, South London.

According to the council, along with its investments in recycling, the plant which will process some 275,000 tonnes of residual non-hazardous waste each year, will help it achieve its landfill diversion goals.

Vidiror Beddington_635

The council said that the UK’s Environment Agency has confirmed that once the plant is operational, NOx levels in the Beddington Air Quality Management Area should rise by no more than 0.8% above current levels, which is considered negligible by the Agency.

Furthermore, the council also noted that the health Protection Agency state that modern energy recovery facilities are safe, and that air quality control is central to the design of safe modern plants.

The facility will incinerate domestic waste that isn’t recycled and use the steam to drive a turbine and generate up to 26 MW of electricity, of which 22 MW will be fed into the supply grid via an existing sub-station.

The design of the facility also includes the ability to also take heat from the turbine and provides for the necessary heat exchange and pumping equipment to deliver heat off-site.

According to the council, Viridor – a part of the Pennon Group (LSE:PNN) – are already in negotiations with the developers of the Felnex site in Hackbridge to bring a ‘heat pipe’ to the site.

“This decision, along with our long term investment in recycling, means we can stop burying rubbish in the ground, dramatically reduce our CO2 emissions and bring forward work on the Wandle Valley Regional Park,” commented Sutton Council’s Deputy Leader, councillor Colin Hall.

“All of the credible scientific evidence shows that modern Energy Recovery Facilities are safe and our technical advisers have been forensically examining Viridor’s proposal for months,” he added.

Through a legal agreement, Viridor will commit to the closure of its landfill by the end of 2017, six years earlier than presently required. The legal agreement will also secure the establishment of a community fund so local people can establish the best ways to improve their area over time.

Source: Waste Management World

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