Our plans are based on Staffordshire’s commitment to firstly reduce the amount of waste produced and to significantly increase recycling and composting rates.
In keeping with the County Council’s original proposals, our facility is designed to process 300,000 tonnes of waste every year which is not suitable for recycling or composting. The facility will produce 23Mw of energy for the National Grid suitable for powering 32,000 homes.
The development of this facility at Four Ashes forms part of these important objectives and would recover energy from waste that would otherwise be sent to environmentally and financially costly landfill.
Why is this facility necessary?
Staffordshire, along with the rest of the UK, is faced with a growing problem. The amount of waste the county produce's is increasing and cannot continue to rely on landfill. To tackle this problem more recycling of waste needs to happen and waste that cannot be recycled needs to stop going to landfill.
New laws mean that Staffordshire’s councils, like other local authorities, are required to dramatically reduce the use of landfill for waste disposal. In particular, the government has said they will impose fines on local authorities if they send too much rubbish to landfill sites. Very soon landfill will be the most expensive way to manage waste. To achieve these aims Staffordshire County Council has adopted a Zero Waste to Landfill strategy.
The county cannot meet the targets through recycling alone. When 55% of waste is eventually recycled and composted by 2020, there will still be a need to manage the remaining 45% which is known as residual waste. To avoid severe financial penalties, which could impact on council tax, as well as addressing environmental concerns, new ways to deal with this residual waste are needed. This facility is an important part of the council's solution.
Even if a recycling rate above 55% is achieved, the county would still have to manage what is left over. This facility is designed to deal with the future and to provide a value for money solution for the taxpayers of Staffordshire.
Why have we proposed to build our facility at Four Ashes?
A detailed analysis of possible site locations was undertaken which was then audited by independent technical consultants. This site was chosen as it met all of our selection criteria that included looking at issues such as protection of water resources, visual intrusion, traffic and access, cultural heritage and potential land use conflict.
We believe Four Ashes is a good site which will result in minimal disruption to the local community whilst achieving great benefits to Staffordshire residents as a whole.
Why will the facility treat waste from outside Staffordshire?
Recently a number of questions have been raised about the capacity of the facility and why it would process waste from outside of Staffordshire. This is an important issue that Staffordshire County Council has considered very carefully.
The key issues about where facilities should be provided to manage waste are guided by the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (WMRSS). In January 2008 the revised strategy was formally submitted to central government. The strategy is a key document that will be considered during the planning process.
The WMRSS sets out a policy about how the local authorities in the West Midlands should work together to process the waste that the county produces. The policy states that each Waste Planning Authority, such as Staffordshire County Council, must identify sites to manage the same amount of household, commercial and industrial waste that is produced each year in their area.
This policy does not mean that every authority has to be entirely self sufficient, as it would be impractical and not make economic sense if every authority had to provide facilities for every type of waste that it produces. Rather the policy provides a framework that allows the different authorities to import and export waste so that it can be processed and disposed of efficiently.
For example, if an authority produces a million tonnes of waste in a year then it needs to plan to provide facilities that process a million tonnes of waste a year, even if some of that waste does not come from the authorities area.
Currently, Staffordshire does not have enough waste treatment facilities to manage all the household and commercial waste it produces. Staffordshire currently sends 1.25 million tonnes of waste a year to other authority areas to be treated because there is not sufficient facilities to manage this waste. Staffordshire sends more waste to other parts of the West Midlands and further afield than any of the neighbouring authorities and partners. The proposed Energy Recovery Facility at Four Ashes would only ever process approximately 300,000 tonnes per year. This is just under a quarter of the county’s existing shortfall meaning that even with this facility the county will still treat significantly less waste than it produces.
For more information about our proposals, please look at Frequently Asked Questions.
