Our proposals

Viridor is proposing to build an Anaerobic Digestion plant (AD) at its existing landfill and recycling site in Beddington.

The facility will have a capacity to process up to 30,000 tonnes of food waste from households in the South London area and will produce around 11,000 tonnes of nutrient-rich, peat-free soil conditioner for restoration and landscaping applications.

It will also generate bio-gas which will then be burnt to generate electricity to power the facility and to export to the National Grid.

Viridor had previously submitted a planning application to build a larger AD facility which would have had capacity to process 75,000 tonnes of waste per year along with other waste management infrastructure on site to the London Borough of Sutton.

This Application was resolved for approval by the council's Development Control Committee in April 2008, following a positive recommendation from its planning officers.  

Reasons for approval included:

• There would not be a detrimental impact on the character or visual amenity of the area; nature conservation interests and biodiversity; amenities of neighbouring occupiers; or archaeological or hydrological interests
• It was considered the proposal would not result in unacceptable levels of traffic
• It would satisfy the Council's sustainability objectives and comply with National, Regional and Local planning policies

The new planning application comes as result of a fresh assessment of how much waste is likely to be generated by the four boroughs who form the South London Waste Partnership (Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton) concluded that a smaller facility will cope with demand.