Press release - 23 Apr 2010

SITA UK to submit planning application for gasification facility at Binn Farm

SITA UK has revised its plans to develop an energy-from-waste facility at Binn Farm and will now be progressing a new application for a waste gasification plant at the site.

The new proposal will require planning approval from Perth and Kinross Council and a waste permit from SEPA before it can operate.

SITA UK will be talking to and listening to the views of local communities and other stakeholders as part of its pre-application consultation activity.

The new proposal will be for a 60,000 tonne per annum gasification facility that will manage municipal waste, and possibly small amounts of business waste, processing it with a technology which provides a clean and efficient conversion to electrical power and heat.

The gasification facility forms part of wider plans to develop the Binn Eco Innovation Park. Led by Binn Skips Ltd, the Park would also include other sustainable waste treatment facilities and clean technology businesses.

Martin Cracknell, Strategic Development Manager for SITA UK in Scotland, said: “Our aim is to submit a pre-application notification to the council in late spring, after which we will be consulting locally in Perth and Kinross and nearby parts of Fife. We’ll be happy to answer any detailed questions about the proposal at that stage. Although we’re still in the early stages of this project, we’d then hope to submit a full planning application in the autumn of this year.”

He added: “Gasification is emerging as an effective way to manage waste at a community scale, recovering energy from residual waste that would traditionally have been landfilled. SITA UK only seeks to deliver waste technologies that are fully compliant with EU regulations and we are also sensitive to local concerns. We see the transition to energy recovery as one of the steps necessary to reduce our dependence on landfill.”

Should the application be successful, the gasification facility will replace plans for a 60,000 tonne per annum energy-from-waste incineration facility which were approved by Perth and Kinross Council in September 2007.