This comes after a long-standing debate over the height of the chimney, with the Environment Agency previously favouring a taller chimney which it said would lower emissions.
However, in a permit issued on 2 January, the Environment Agency said it was prepared to accept Gent Fairhead’s application as the firm was able to allay concerns over emissions.
Sources close to the project suggest that the lower stack height will see the use of some of the highest treatment standards available globally to ensure it betters and exceeds emissions requirements.
Further details of the Agency’s decision are to be released ahead of a public consultation on the proposed changes, to run between 9 January and 6 February.
However, in the draft permit, the Environment Agency said: “After carefully considering the application over the last 12 months, including all received consultation responses, we are now proposing to accept the changes requested by the company.
“We are of the opinion that the proposals will provide for an equivalent level of environmental protection as that afforded by the current permit. As a result, we are proposing to vary the current permit.”
Permission
Gent Fairhead was first granted planning permission for the plant in 2010 with a stack height of 35 metres.
In December 2016 the Agency refused an environmental permit for the facility, saying Gent Fairhead failed to show how it would use Best Available Techniques (BATs) to minimise emissions from the facility, mainly because of the proposed chimney stack of 35 metres.
At that time the Agency said the plant should incorporate a higher stack of a minimum of 70 metres, which was more in keeping with facilities of a similar size (see letsrecycle.com story).
A permit for a stack height of 58 metres was then accepted in 2017, but planning permission was turned down in April 2019 for the higher stack as the council said it could have an “unacceptable impact” on the character of the local landscape (see letsrecycle.com story).
“After carefully considering the application over the last 12 months, we are now proposing to accept the changes requested”
The project, called an Integrated Waste Management Facility, has been designed to burn solid recovered fuel (SRF) while also incorporating a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant, an anaerobic digestion plant and a recovered paper pulping facility.
Accepted
Pending consultation responses, it now looks likely the project will progress after receiving the required permit.
A spokesperson for Gent Fairhead, owners of the former airfield near Braintree on which the Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) is to be built, said: “The proposed facility will contribute to the circular economy through maximum recovery of energy and valuable materials from waste.
The spokesperson added: “The consolidated permit incorporates variations that will permit operations entirely consistent with the implemented IWMF planning permission and, in particular, with a stack height of 35 metres above surrounding ground level equivalent to an elevation of 85 metres above ordnance datum.”
The draft variation notice and draft decision document can be viewed here.
This link will go live on 9 January.
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