Press release - 19 Dec 2006

SITA UK delighted to have secured planning approvals for Binn Farm waste management facilities

Managers at SITA UK have expressed delight at the news that Perth and Kinross Council has granted the company planning permission to develop two new facilities at its waste management site at Binn Farm near Glenfarg, Perthshire.

The approved planning application is for a 60,000 tonne per year energy from waste (EfW) facility and a 16,000 tonne per year Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) on land adjacent to the existing waste facilities at Binn Farm.

John Grainger, SITA UK General Manager with responsibility for Scotland, said: “We are delighted that the planning application for developments at Binn Farm has been approved.

“The proposals for the two facilities are entirely consistent with the Tayside Strategic Outline Case for the future of waste management in the area, which was presented to the Scottish Executive earlier this year. In that document the Tayside authorities (including Perth and Kinross Council) highlighted the development of a new EfW waste plant as a preferred option for the area. In addition, the Perth and Kinross Council’s emerging Local Plan identifies the Binn Farm site as a suitable location for resource recovery related facilities, which is why SITA UK promoted the development in this location.

“We will now begin the process of applying for a Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) permit from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). The PPC permit is a document drawn up by SEPA that provides the framework for the operating and monitoring of the new facilities, and is essential for us to move this project to the next stage.”

Binn Farm is located approximately 8 kilometres south-east of Perth. The proposed site for the new facilities is to the west of the existing Binn landfill site, and is 2 kilometres from Glenfarg, which is the nearest village. The site has its own private means of access, which links directly to the A912, and lies in close proximity to Junction 9 of the M90 motorway.

It is anticipated that the new facilities, which could be operational by 2013, will provide around 150 jobs during the construction phase, with as many as 50 permanent jobs being created once the facilities are fully operational.

The EfW facility will handle municipal waste from Perth and Kinross that cannot be recycled or composted. It will not accept hazardous waste. The MRF will deal with the separation and packaging of ‘kerbside collected’ dry recyclables such as glass, paper and plastic recycled by residents of Perth and Kinross and the surrounding area.

John Grainger added: “Since submitting the planning application in June of this year, SITA UK has attended local Community Council meetings, staged exhibitions and held meetings for local residents in the two nearest communities - Glenfarg and Abernethy - to explain its proposals. The company also distributed leaflets to local residents and created a dedicated website – www.binnfarmrrp.co.uk – to outline its plans and give residents quick and easy access to information.

“We have also arranged a special fact-finding visit for representatives from the three local community councils, Glenfarg, Abernethy and Bridge of Earn, as well as key decision-makers at Perth and Kinross Council, to visit an existing EfW facility on the Isle of Man to see how the process works at first hand.

“Now that we have gained planning approval we don’t intend to stop consulting and communicating with local communities, in fact if anything we are likely to intensify our community relations role. We hope that local residents will work with us to ensure that the next stages of development proceed well and to their satisfaction.”

Some key facts

• Energy from Waste (EfW) is the name given to the thermal treatment of waste under controlled conditions in which energy is produced. This energy can be converted to electricity to boost the supply in the National Grid and, at times, heat for use by nearby developments.
• When built, the EfW plant will handle 60,000 tonnes of waste, and have an electricity generation capacity of around 4.7 MW. This will meet the domestic electricity needs of 7,900 homes. In addition, around 13,800 tonnes per year of residual ash will be created, which could be used as an aggregate for road building.
• The two new facilities will help reduce the amount of waste currently going to landfill in Perth and Kinross, which will be crucial in helping Perth and Kinross meet government targets for diverting waste from landfill. The Council’s own figures show that the penalty that it could face for failing to meet these targets could be as much as £5.7million per year.
• Last year Perth and Kinross Council collected over 100,000 tonnes of waste from households and businesses within the district. Research from across the UK shows that the amount of waste being produced is increasing by around 2 to 3% every year, so this figure is likely to rise in the future.