11/00713/F - Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk

SUPPORTING CASE
The following is taken directly from the summary of the Planning Application Supporting
Statement:
“Norfolk relies heavily on landfill for the disposal of its wastes, with 416,000 tonnes of waste
landfilled in 2008/09. This situation is no longer economically or environmentally sustainable.
Councils across the UK, including Norfolk, have strict targets to reduce the amount of waste
that is sent to landfill and to minimise their impact on the environment. The costs of landfill
are also increasing, with landfill tax rising year on year.
Norfolk’s emerging Waste Core Strategy encourages the consideration of alternative waste
management options to landfill, and given the present lack of waste treatment infrastructure,
identifies a clear need for residual waste treatment facilities to serve Norfolk over the plan
period to 2026 and beyond. This need is quantified at 703,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of
new residual waste treatment capacity for Norfolk.
Energy from Waste (EfW) incineration technology is capable of treating residual waste
(waste that is left over after recycling and composting) and diverting waste away from
landfill, while not compromising Norfolk’s ability to continue its high levels of recycling and
composting (currently at 43.5% in 2009/10).
Norfolk County Council (NCC) has identified a requirement for a residual waste treatment
facility capable of treating approximately 170,000 tonnes of residual
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) per year over a 25-year contract period and is procuring a
suitable facility through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) tendering process.
Cory Environmental Management Limited (‘Cory’) and Wheelabrator Technologies Inc
(‘Wheelabrator’) have been selected by NCC as the preferred bidder for the PFI contract and
is proposing proven EfW incineration technology because of, its strong environmental
performance, its ability to produce energy and heat and because it offers good value for
money for the people of Norfolk.
A site within the boundaries of the Willows Business Park, Saddlebow Industrial Area, King’s
Lynn is identified by NCC as a preferred location for a range of waste management uses
including EfW (see Site WAS 652). The site is in the ownership of NCC.
Cory and Wheelabrator are proposing to develop a power and recycling centre at the
Willows Business Park site (the Proposal Site). The proposed development is referred to in
this Statement as the Willows Power & Recycling Centre (the Proposal).
The Proposal will provide an EfW Facility with an expected throughput of approximately
268,000 tpa of waste, which will generate some 24.2MW (Gross) of electricity, enough to
power the equivalent of 36,000 homes, using residual waste as a fuel. The Proposal will
accept residual Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) from Norfolk and Commercial and Industrial
(C&I) waste arising from local businesses, some of which will come from neighbouring
authority areas, given King’s Lynn’s location close to the County boundary. All waste treated
at the Proposal Site will be non hazardous.
An Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) Recycling Area will recover around 5,000 tonnes of metals
per year from the bottom ash produced by the EfW process and will enable the remaining
bottom ash (around 55,000 tonnes per year) to be recycled for use in the construction
industry. Both aspects promote sustainability by reducing the need for virgin raw materials
and help boost recycling levels in Norfolk.
11/01064/CM Development Control Board
25 July 2011
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