Buttington incinerator to serve North Wales and Birmingham

At a planning committee meeting on Thursday, May 20, Powys Council members were given the opportunity to discuss and add their concerns to the Local Impact Report which will be submitted to the Welsh Government as it considers Broad Energy’s plans for a 12.8-megawatt waste burner at Buttington.

The incinerator is supposed to be able to deal with 167,000 tonnes of domestic waste a year – but the meeting heard that Powys only produces about 20,000.

The report shows that Broad Energy believes it will service clients from across North Wales, plus English local authorities such as Cheshire, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Worcestershire.

They believe that a potential 640,000 to 690,000 tonnes of residual waste would be available in this catchment.

Buttington Quarry

Powys planning professional lead, Peter Morris, said: “The issue of need is one the inspector dealing with the application is going to have to grapple with.

“The applicants clearly consider that they have demonstrated that there is a need, or they would not be pursuing it.

“We have not identified a Welsh and Powys need for it, and we have made that point in the report.”

Cllr Roger Williams believed incinerators would reduce the need of dumping rubbish in landfill sites and lower gas emissions, and wondered whether “need” should be a commercial rather than planning matter?

Mr Williams said: “Need is one of the main planning considerations, sustainable development does not allow for the over-provision of treatment capacity.

“As part of the proximity principle waste should be dealt with as closely as possible to where it is generated.”

Northern Powys is considered part of the northern Wales "waste region" which has a recycling rate of about 70 per cent, leaving the remaining 30 per cent of residual waste to deal with.

During the last decade, the North Wales local authorities joined forces to bring a 200,000-tonne incinerator operated by Wheelabrator to Parc Adfer in Flintshire.

This facility still has 50 to 60 per cent spare capacity to deal with commercial and industrial waste.

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Mr Williams said: “In Powys there’s about 20,000 tonnes of residual waste generated annually, a proportion goes to landfill and other energy recovery facilities that are outside the region.

“A procurement process is going on at the moment to deal with that, it’s up to tender where that 20,000 tonnes will be going.”

Other issues councillors wanted included in the report are fire risk, the weather conditions which could affect air quality, and that increased traffic on would increase the danger of accidents on the A458, the main road artery from England into Mid-Wales.

They voted to approve the report.

The consultation process comes to an end on Sunday, May 24.

Broad Energy believe the 12.8-megawatt incinerator could create 35 jobs.

The construction and operation of an energy recovery facility would involve “re-profiling” a void in the quarry, earth works, changes to existing residential access and a new vehicle access from the A458 Welshpool to Shrewsbury trunk road.

Developers Broad Energy say the facility will “significantly reduce” the amount of waste sent to landfill while also generating low-carbon energy.

Broad Energy believe the facility “will be a significant step in the right direction” towards helping Wales to become a zero-waste nation by 2050.