Waste chiefs at Staffordshire County Council are gearing up to apply for planning permission to build a state-of-the-art clean energy from waste facility in southern Staffordshire.
The move is the next step in Staffordshire’s drive for Zero Waste to Landfill 2020, a new approach which rejects land hungry and increasingly costly landfill and focuses on maximum recycling with energy generation from the leftovers.
The approach harnesses the tried and tested technology which will secure the most efficient and cost effective route for dealing with Staffordshire’s growing mountain of waste.
There’s already energy from waste plant in Stoke-on-Trent which has been operating for the last decade generating energy for thousands of homes. This has helped north Staffordshire cut its landfill dependency.
The team at Staffordshire County Council are now moving ahead with carefully considered plans to develop a new facility for the south of the county, harnessing the latest generation of clean combustion technology.
Right across Europe this technology is the choice of the most environmentally aware nations including Austria, Sweden and Germany. There are similar operations right in the heart of Paris and Vienna.
The operation will generate 18 megawatts of power - enough to power about 20,000 homes.
Even with increased recycling the Government believes new waste treatment facilities are critical to reducing the UK's reliance on landfill and avoiding the increasing costs imposed by EU fines for missing landfill reduction targets.
The approach has been reinforced by the summer long public consultation on Staffordshire’s council’s policy to move towards Zero Waste to Landfill by 2020, which clearly marked up Energy from Waste as a key element of the package.
Over 90% of over 1,100 respondents, from all walks of life, and from all over Staffordshire, said they thought maximising recycling in tandem with energy from waste was the most environmentally responsible way to go in dealing with Staffordshire’s growing waste mountain.
The energy from waste plant will be more environmentally friendly than landfill - reducing climate changing CO2 emissions. In the summer people thought the environmental argument was even more important than the undoubted cost benefits to Staffordshire tax payers.
The Staffordshire team has now shortlisted a number of sites. There will be a formal announcement at the appropriate time, ensuring local people and their elected representatives know first.
Waste chiefs at the county council are preparing a comprehensive information service for local residents to address any concerns they may have.
Staffordshire County Councils Cabinet Member Economic Prosperity and Sustainable Communities Councillor John Wakefield said Staffordshire was taking a responsible attitude to dealing with the growing waste problem.
"We have a responsibility to the local residents, the environment and the tax payer to deal with this growing problem now, rather than putting it off. Landfill is increasingly unacceptable to local communities and costly to the tax payer.
"Our summer long consultation gave everyone the chance to have their say about the solution. The vast majority supported our clearly stated strategy of maximising recycling and generating energy from the residual waste.
"The technology we want to use is tried and tested and used in communities across some of the worlds most environmentally aware and developed nations.
"The preferred site will be chosen to minimise disruption to the local community whilst achieving significant benefits for Staffordshire residents as a whole," he said.
The move is the next step in Staffordshire’s drive for Zero Waste to Landfill 2020, a new approach which rejects land hungry and increasingly costly landfill and focuses on maximum recycling with energy generation from the leftovers.
The approach harnesses the tried and tested technology which will secure the most efficient and cost effective route for dealing with Staffordshire’s growing mountain of waste.
There’s already energy from waste plant in Stoke-on-Trent which has been operating for the last decade generating energy for thousands of homes. This has helped north Staffordshire cut its landfill dependency.
The team at Staffordshire County Council are now moving ahead with carefully considered plans to develop a new facility for the south of the county, harnessing the latest generation of clean combustion technology.
Right across Europe this technology is the choice of the most environmentally aware nations including Austria, Sweden and Germany. There are similar operations right in the heart of Paris and Vienna.
The operation will generate 18 megawatts of power - enough to power about 20,000 homes.
Even with increased recycling the Government believes new waste treatment facilities are critical to reducing the UK's reliance on landfill and avoiding the increasing costs imposed by EU fines for missing landfill reduction targets.
The approach has been reinforced by the summer long public consultation on Staffordshire’s council’s policy to move towards Zero Waste to Landfill by 2020, which clearly marked up Energy from Waste as a key element of the package.
Over 90% of over 1,100 respondents, from all walks of life, and from all over Staffordshire, said they thought maximising recycling in tandem with energy from waste was the most environmentally responsible way to go in dealing with Staffordshire’s growing waste mountain.
The energy from waste plant will be more environmentally friendly than landfill - reducing climate changing CO2 emissions. In the summer people thought the environmental argument was even more important than the undoubted cost benefits to Staffordshire tax payers.
The Staffordshire team has now shortlisted a number of sites. There will be a formal announcement at the appropriate time, ensuring local people and their elected representatives know first.
Waste chiefs at the county council are preparing a comprehensive information service for local residents to address any concerns they may have.
Staffordshire County Councils Cabinet Member Economic Prosperity and Sustainable Communities Councillor John Wakefield said Staffordshire was taking a responsible attitude to dealing with the growing waste problem.
"We have a responsibility to the local residents, the environment and the tax payer to deal with this growing problem now, rather than putting it off. Landfill is increasingly unacceptable to local communities and costly to the tax payer.
"Our summer long consultation gave everyone the chance to have their say about the solution. The vast majority supported our clearly stated strategy of maximising recycling and generating energy from the residual waste.
"The technology we want to use is tried and tested and used in communities across some of the worlds most environmentally aware and developed nations.
"The preferred site will be chosen to minimise disruption to the local community whilst achieving significant benefits for Staffordshire residents as a whole," he said.
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