North East Energy Recovery Centre

Background

We have run an energy-from-waste (EfW) facility at Haverton Hill Road, Billingham since 1998. The facility treats residual household waste (which is left over after recycling) from the Tees Valley area, generating enough renewable electricity to supply a town the size of Hartlepool. Almost 250,000 tonnes of residual household waste is diverted away from landfill each year as a result. An extension, currently under construction will provide an additional capacity of 136,000 tonnes per year.

Planning application

We are developing a planning application for:

• A new EfW facility of approximately the same capacity as the original plant, capable of treating some 256,000 tonnes of residual waste per year, housed in a building of similar architectural design on unused former industrial land immediately to the north of the existing facility;A new rail unloading facility on the adjacent rail sidings to allow waste to be brought to the site by rail and transferred directly into the new plant, to reduce the amount of waste brought into the facility by road.
  

The company is consulting with the local community and other stakeholders to find out views on this proposal so they can be taken into account appropriately in the planning application.

The benefits

We believe that this proposal would have a number of benefits, including:
Recovering energy from waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill;

• Establishing the complex as a regional centre for the generation of renewable energy;
• Providing at least 100, and up to 200, jobs in the construction phase of the project, and 41 permanent, skilled jobs once it becomes operational;
• Potentially increasing the quantity of freight carried on the rail network, and;
• Providing a wildlife pond, plus tree and shrub planting, mirroring that at the existing plant.
  

Public exhibition

As part of our commitment to public engagement, we held a public exhibition in April 2008, where we invited the local community to consider the proposals and give us feedback.

Exhibition boards

If you were unable to attend our exhibition, you can view the exhibition boards here, which tell you more about our proposals.