Planning Application Submitted for Green Waste Solution in County
Lafarge Aggregates Ltd and New Earth Solutions Ltd have submitted their planning application to Leicestershire County Council for a 50,000 tonnes per annum totally enclosed waste recycling and treatment plant.
Lafarge was awarded a five year contract to treat 30 - 50,000 tonnes of waste a year by the county council in late April 2008 and the proposed development would be located within the company’s existing quarry, waste management and recycling facility at Cotesbach, near Lutterworth.
New Earth Solutions has a proven track record in the design, build and operation of similar facilities elsewhere in the UK. The partners hope that planning permission will be granted in time for construction to start in Autumn 2008, so the facility would be able to accept waste approximately 12 months later. The plant will also need an operating consent from the Environment Agency.
The scheme is designed to help Leicestershire County Council reduce the amount of residual waste – rubbish collected by the district councils and not recycled – going to landfill, before a new, large scale waste management scheme is introduced around 2015.
The entire process would be carried out inside totally enclosed buildings in a controlled environment, where a specialist filter system would process odours so they do not escape into the environment. The location of the proposed facility is already well screened from neighbouring properties. All the waste to be treated through the New Earth Solutions plant already gets delivered to the site – where it is currently landfilled, so there will be no extra vehicles.
Tim Deal, Senior Planning and Estates Manager for Lafarge believes that keeping the local community up to date with what is happening is a vitally important part of the planning process,
“We have had an active Liaison Group for this site for many years and always involve them in our plans for both existing and proposed developments. This means we can deal with any issues or concerns very early in the process.
“This project potentially offers double environmental benefits. From the county’s perspective, they reduce the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill, helping them to meet government targets. At the same time, the process produces a by-product which we can use to help us improve the restoration of the landfill site to agriculture, nature conservation and public amenity.”
Peter Mills, Commercial Director at New Earth Solutions is delighted to be partnering Lafarge Aggregates and Leicestershire County Council in this significant project,
“Our proven technology for advanced waste treatment and resource recovery already successfully operates in Dorset and a second plant in Kent is nearing completion. We are proud of our existing track record in serving the needs of local authorities and I look forward to providing a valuable environmental service to Leicestershire in the future.”