Avonmouth Resource Recovery Centre Challenge Dismissed

Posted 30 Nov 2011

Viridor, one of the UK’s leading recyclers, has welcomed a High Court decision to dismiss Bristol City Council’s legal challenge to the planning permission for its Avonmouth Resource Recovery Centre.

The development includes a materials recycling facility, which will sort and recover up to 150,000 tonnes of recyclable resources a year, and an energy from waste plant that will treat up to 350,000 tonnes of residual waste a year - supplying 30MW of power to the National Grid.

Commenting on the judgment, Viridor’s Head of Planning and Permitting, Ian John, said: “The challenge to overturn the Secretary of State’s decision to grant planning permission was made on three grounds relating to the scope of the project's Environmental Impact Assessment, the planning policy for the area and the awarding of costs against the council resulting from the inquiry.

“We are pleased that the challenge was dismissed on all three counts. We will continue to work on the submissions required by the planning permission so we can commence work on site as soon as possible and deliver this much-needed infrastructure project.”

The proposed facility will regenerate the northern part of the currently derelict Sevalco site in Chittening, Avonmouth. The site is close to the Seabanks gas fired power station and is part of a heavily industrialised area.

Notes to editors

• The materials recycling facility will use a combination of advanced mechanical sorting techniques and manual quality control to separate the materials for onward processing into new products and packaging.
• Energy from waste is a technology that sees waste burned at high temperatures under carefully controlled conditions. It is a controlled process using the most up-to-date equipment, much like a conventional power station.

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