County Durham Waste Local Plan.

9 Waste Recovery.

Location of Waste Recovery Facilities.

9.1 The introduction of new legislation on the management of waste has acted as a catalyst for the development of alternative methods of waste management. Throughout the Plan period there will be a need for non landfill development to facilitate waste recovery and recycling such as digesters, new energy from waste technologies such as pyrolysis, and the expansion of composting schemes on both a small and large scale.  The site requirements and land use impacts of these facilities are different.  However, experience has shown that such facilities are sufficiently flexible to be developed at a variety of scales according to circumstances and requirements.  It is also clear that the potential impacts of each of these facilities are easier to mitigate and control if the waste management operations are contained within a building.  In the case of composting for example, the Environment Agency’s adopted position is that in order to prevent any adverse effects of composting, all or part of the process should take place in a sealed building or under negative pressure.  The Waste Local Plan adopts a similar but broader approach by seeking to ensure that new waste management facilities are located within appropriate buildings in order to contain and control any potential impacts.

9.2 In addition to the development of new facilities at existing waste sites, it is anticipated that there will be an increasing demand for facilities on industrial sites throughout the County. The development of high quality and attractive industrial locations has been both a priority and a success of the County Council over a number of years.  The attraction of high quality industrial development is supported and encouraged, subject to the standard of existing industrial parks being maintained or enhanced, and that any negative impacts are mitigated as far as practicable.

9.3 In County Durham, the traditional method of dealing with waste has been to landfill in the voids created by quarrying.  Although landfill will still be required on some scale for many years to come, there are clear signs that waste management is entering a new era and emerging as a modern, cleaner, growth industry, employing new technologies.  The development of facilities for waste has traditionally been dogged by a poor image and negative perceptions.  The location of modern facilities within contemporary, and well designed buildings or enclosed structures appropriate to the technology or process, will assist in over-coming these problems and should help to resolve planning objections. Longstanding perceptions about the nature of the waste industry will need to be overcome if we are to develop the range of facilities needed over the coming years and maintain acceptable operating standards at industrial locations throughout the County.

9.4 Although landfill development inevitably takes place externally, ancillary or other new waste developments that are proposed within a landfill site should, subject to satisfying other criteria (e.g. Green Belt policy), be located within a building.  In-vessel composting, such as aerobic digestion, should also take place within buildings to ensure that the impacts of storage, handling and movement of waste, and visual impact is kept to a minimum.  Where the expansion or intensification of existing facilities is proposed, the opportunity to improve the overall quality and standard of the development by housing them within a building should be taken.

9.5 There will however continue to be a need for some of the more traditional, non-landfill waste management methods, some of which may have specific impacts and therefore specific locational requirements.  Where it is not feasible to accommodate such development within a building or enclosed structure,(e.g. scrap yards), then it is recognised that there should be a limited number of appropriate sites able to accommodate proposals of this nature and that they should generally be directed to General and Local Industrial Estates, taking account of the relevant policies in District Local Plans.  It is also recognised that there is scope to accommodate some waste recovery facilities on farms as part of farm diversification activities, although the specific impacts and specific locational requirements mean that only a limited range of waste recovery operations are likely to be appropriate as part of farm diversification activities.  Such development should involve the re-use of appropriate rural buildings and be consistent in scale with their rural location.

Site Assessment.

9.6 An outline review has been undertaken of employment sites throughout the County in order to ascertain their potential for waste development and to guide the waste industry.  This review has focused on the nature of locations and their current land uses.  No detailed assessment has been undertaken of the potential to accommodate waste development.  Although not all sites have vacant premises at present, this may change during the life of the Plan and re-development opportunities may arise.  It is recommended that discussions are held with the site owner, together with the County Council, prior to the submission of any planning application.

9.7 There are some sites however, or parts of larger sites where waste development will not be appropriate.  These sites generally consist of blue chip/research and development operators where clustering is sought, or where there are sensitive developments well established on the site such as, food production. 

9.8 Table 9.1 lists the sites that are deemed not to be appropriate for waste development.  At other general industrial and employment sites, there may be potential to accommodate waste development.  These sites have not however been assessed for their suitability in terms of environmental considerations or their suitability in terms of the proximity principle and whether they represent the best practicable environmental option (BPEO).  Whilst the review of employment sites has not resulted in allocations in the Plan, Thrislington Quarry has been allocated for waste development under Policy W 50, in view of its location, industrial nature and general conformity with the preferred locations indicated in PPG10.  Where a number of sites are acceptable in a geographically similar location and could all serve a particular waste source, the proximity principle, the BPEO, together with the status of the various industrial sites should be considered.  Ideally, preference should be given to General Industrial Estates and Local Industrial Estates before Prestige Industrial Estates but only where the proximity principle would not be compromised and there would not be a greater impact upon the environment.

Recycling.

9.9 Waste recycling is well established for a number of materials, such as paper and aluminium cans.  The range of materials that will be subject to recycling initiatives is likely to grow significantly over the next few years.  Waste recycling can have significant potential advantages including:

• reduced environmental impacts arising from waste treatment and disposal;
• energy savings;
• extending the life of, and maximising the value of, raw materials.

9.10 However, potential problems and disadvantages of recycling also need to be recognised and managed.  These include the costs and environmental impacts of collection, transport, and processing; the current shortage and volatility of markets for some products; and the visual and physical impact of recycling banks and centres.  Life cycle analysis can be used to help identify most appropriate locations for new facilities.

9.11 Household waste is a relatively small part of the overall waste stream (approx. 20%), but it is important that we make significant progress towards managing it in a more sustainable way.  At present just 11% is recycled in County Durham compared with 10% nationally.  The Government has set challenging targets to increase the recycling of household waste, which are national targets supported by Statutory Performance Standards.  These national targets are:

• to recycle or compost at least 25% of household waste by 2005;
• to recycle or compost at least 30% of household waste by 2010; and
• to recycle or compost at least 33% of household waste by 2015.

The Statutory Performance Indicators for County Durham are to recycle or compost 10% of household waste by 2003 and 18% by 2006.

9.12 The collection of household waste for recycling can be carried out in a number of ways. These include ‘bring’ systems, where the public take their waste to Household Waste Recycling Compounds or recycling centres, or Materials Recycling Facilities (MRF’s) – a specialist plant which may separate, store and process recyclable material.  In County Durham, existing waste transfer stations may have the potential for adaptation to MRF’s to enable the recovery and recycling of materials from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).  The Municipal Waste Management Strategy for County Durham (MWMSCD) identifies the need for all district and borough councils in the County to increase kerbside collection of recyclable materials, both in terms of the number of properties served and the range of materials collected.  This in turn will require additional facilities for "bulking up" recyclates.  Other proposals that provide small scale ‘bring’ facilities for the recycling of waste will be supported.

Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC's).

9.13 These sites provide a facility for the public to deliver their recyclable household waste and to properly dispose of waste which cannot be recycled.  Like “bring facilities” which are recycling facilities are provided by WCA’s at supermarkets and other publicly accessible areas, such sites can provide recycling facilities for materials such as cans, paper, glass, textiles, garden waste and engine oil etc.  HWRC’s form the major source of organic wastes for composting in the County, however this may change with the development of green waste kerbside collection schemes.  The MWMSCD recognises the increasing need for more recycling and that sites for HWRC’s should maximise their potential in terms of the range of facilities they are able to provide.

9.14 The MWMSCD proposes that recyclable materials collected from HWRC’s will be combined with materials collected directly from households by district councils to be fed into a materials recovery or bulking up facility.

Site Requirements

9.15 HWRC’s need to be located near to the County’s main centres of population to maximise their accessibility.  These sites should be carefully designed to ensure that maximum recovery is achieved, and to allow adequate access with space for queuing and manoeuvring vehicles.  The facilities should be either fully or partially enclosed with an impermeable surface and include appropriate design of surface water drainage.

Waste Transfer Stations and Material Recovery Facilities.

9.16 A waste transfer station allows waste to be stored temporarily prior to transportation in bulk to recycling, reprocessing, treatment or disposal facilities.  This can reduce the overall number of vehicular movements by allowing larger vehicles or different transport systems to be used to transport waste over larger distances if required.  Waste transfer operations can manage a variety of waste types.  A network of facilities across the County will ensure that collected materials are sorted and supplied to the reprocessing industries. 

9.17 Existing Waste Transfer Facilities which currently handle municipal waste in the County will continue to operate as bulking up facilities and may also handle segregated recyclate, prior to the waste being transferred to reprocessing facilities or final disposal.  However the MWMSCD proposes that, as increasing volumes of waste are diverted from landfill, their role should be modified to provide additional bulking up and sort facilities in support of kerbside collection schemes and Bring systems.  They may also be capable of incorporating other waste management facilities.

9.18 A new waste transfer station required in Teesdale, which may be provided as part of the redevelopment/relocation of the Household Waste Recycling Centre.  Indeed, approval was given for a waste transfer station and recycling compound at Stainton Grove, in April 2003.  A further facility may also be needed in Wear Valley as existing landfill capacity in the west of the County becomes exhausted.  These facilities would help to reduce costs, reduce the environmental impact of excessive transportation of waste and would also be capable of providing bulking up facilities in support of recycling schemes.

9.19 A Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) usually receives sorted waste which is then further separated into recyclable materials.  A MRF may also store bulked up materials awaiting re-processing.  Useful materials are sorted and supplied to the reprocessing industry for processing into new products.  Any non-recoverable materials are transferred for final disposal.

Site Requirements

9.20 Waste Transfer Stations and Material Recovery Facilities usually require industrial-style buildings and storage areas of a sufficient size to accommodate a large tipping hall to deposit and load materials.  They would also need to accommodate equipment to sort, grade, compact and bale materials, as well as storage and loading facilities for recovered materials.  Suitable urban locations would include industrial estates, appropriate previously developed land, or adjacent to an existing waste management facility.  Importantly, the facility would require good accessibility to receive delivery of collected waste and to transfer it in bulk by road, rail or water to other waste management facilities.  In considering the location of new facilities, account should be taken of relevant policies in District Local Plans.

9.21 A transfer station could be a small facility serving the local community, or could deal with up to 50,000 tonnes per annum.  Transfer facilities are needed in both rural and urban areas to provide an integrated network across the County, and they should be sited on appropriate industrial sites or previously developed sites in sustainable locations and contained within a building.

9.22 Materials Recovery Facilities can range from a small scale local recycling operation to a large scale facility dealing with up to 100,000 tonnes per annum.  Such a facility should incorporate sufficient flexibility so that different materials from different sources can be sorted in response to fluctuations in the recyclables markets.  There may be benefits in reduced traffic movements if they are located adjacent to an existing waste management facility.  A new Materials Recovery Facility is allocated in the Plan at Thrislington Quarry, for further details see 15 ‘Site Specific Policies.’.

Recycling of Inert Wastes.

9.23 Facilities for the re-use and recovery of inert waste, including construction and demolition waste, can reduce both the amount of waste landfilled and the need for quarrying primary minerals.  Recycling of these wastes to produce secondary aggregates can take place either at centralised processing facilities or on a construction site.  The use of mobile facilities may be appropriate for large scale demolition operations, which allows the waste to be recycled close to where it arises.  This reduces the need for double handling and unnecessary transport journeys of waste.  A range of materials such as crushed concrete, road planings, minerals wastes and some industrial wastes can be recycled and utilised as substitutes for primary aggregates.  However, the removal of these materials from the waste stream will inevitably delay reclamation of former mineral workings.  Any unusable residues can be used in landfill engineering.

Site Requirements

9.24 Suitable locations for recycling inert waste may include appropriate industrial areas, previously developed land, operational quarries or landfill sites.  These facilities should be located away from residential areas.  Hardstanding will be required for stockpiling material and crushing, screening and other processing operations.  Some elements of the operation and storage may need to be enclosed.

End of Life Vehicles.

9.25 End of life vehicle facilities (ELV), car breakers, vehicle dismantlers, metal recycling sites and sites used for the storage of abandoned vehicles contribute to metal recycling and the re-use of car parts, which avoid the waste stream altogether.  Traditional scrap yards and metal recycling sites are recovery and bulking up facilities which concentrate on providing high quality metals to the smelting industry.  These facilities allow for the efficient recovery of metals for recycling, whilst bulking up can reduce the overall number of vehicular movements.  The implications of the End of Life Vehicle Directive, which came into effect in April 2002, are likely to be significant.

Site Requirements

9.26 Scrap yards can vary in size from small to large scale operations.  Due to their often noisy, unsightly and industrial character, they require careful siting in appropriate industrial areas.  Modern facilities require industrial buildings able to accommodate workshops and storage space, in addition to metal processing and sorting equipment.  Small facilities could be accommodated as part of a larger waste management facility.  Wherever possible, the facility’s operations should be enclosed to help reduce its environmental impacts although it is recognised that it would not always be possible to have the entire operation housed within a building.  In considering the location of new facilities, account should be taken of relevant policies in District Local Plans.

Composting.

9.27 Composting is the decomposition of organic waste to form a compost or soil improver. As well as producing a useful material, it removes a significant and potentially polluting element of the waste stream and reduces demand for peat and other soil improvement products for horticulture and land reclamation.  There are alternative processes to render organic waste into material which is capable of being used as a soil improver.  These include vermiculture or vermicomposting, which involve the use of worms to break down material.

9.28 Home composting has long been undertaken by private households to break down biodegradable kitchen and garden waste into a fertile compost.  Home composting reduces the volume of waste to be collected and reduces transport but although it is very much encouraged, it has not been included by the government in waste recycling targets due to difficulty in its measurement.  It is also not subject to planning control.

9.29 The Waste Local Plan is therefore more concerned with centralised composting, where biodegradable material is delivered to a central site where it is composted using windrows on a hardstanding or in large containers.  The scale of operations can vary considerably from small community schemes to large scale centralised commercial facilities.  Community composting is organised by groups of households whose organic wastes are combined to create larger volumes of compost.  Composting schemes can also take place on farms, helping farmers to diversify their operations.

9.30 New facilities are required to process green waste which is both produced by District/Borough Councils and delivered by the general public to Household Waste Recycling Centres.  The MWMSCD forecasts that two new facilities will be required in the County.  A temporary facility has been established as a pilot plant at Joint Stocks Quarry, near Coxhoe but more permanent composting facilities will be necessary in the longer term.

9.31 Without careful management, the use of windrows can produce odours and air-borne pollutants whose emissions can be a health hazard.  Liquid effluent is also produced which is a potential pollutant.  The Environment Agency issued a policy statement in August 2001, which indicated that new composting facilities should not be located within 250 metres of a workplace or the boundary of a dwelling unless a risk assessment proves otherwise.  However, the Environment Agency suggest a number of measures that may be undertaken in order to reduce the adverse effects of composting including that such operations are undertaken within a building.

Site Requirements

9.32 Large scale composting usually can be carried out in windrows, which are open linear heaps of material.  Small facilities may only require an area of hardstanding and drainage for composting; a covered area for screening and storing materials; and a small building for equipment storage.  However, large scale centralised commercial facilities may have a greater impact and require care in their siting.  The enclosure of such facilities would be preferable.  In particular, enclosure of commercial composting facilities makes the control of emissions easier to enforce and more cost effective.  Enclosure also allows greater control of the atmospheric conditions in which the composting is taking place, thereby improving the efficiency of the process.  Centralised composting facilities could be located at existing landfill sites, quarries, appropriate industrial sites, previously developed land or in "redundant" buildings.  Only small scale composting schemes will be permitted as part of farm diversification.

Aerobic Digestion and Anaerobic Digestion.

9.33 Aerobic digestion is the biological degradation of organic waste in the presence of oxygen and is normally carried out in a vessel.  Anaerobic digestion is the biological degradation of organic waste without oxygen and also takes place in a vessel.  The processes allow the control and containment of potential pollutants, including methane gas.  Anaerobic digestion produces more gas including methane, but the primary aim is to produce a good quality compost.  This reduces the volume of waste and requires less space than composting.  Gas from the anaerobic digestion process can be used as a fuel.  The MWMSCD envisages that a number of sites will be developed in the County for aerobic digestion although since the technology is not yet established for municipal waste, initially a pilot plant is operational at Thornley.  Anaerobic Digestion has been used successfully to treat sewage sludge, but the technology is not yet established for other waste types in the UK.

Site Requirements

9.34 Digesters can stand alone or be part of a larger waste management site.  The process is generally industrial in terms of the nature of the equipment required, however, smaller scale anaerobic digestion facilities are being trialed in the Region at present, usually on farms in the first instance.  In general, digesters require an industrial building and a large upright vessel would be required with ancillary areas for sorting the different types of organic wastes.  The buildings would also be needed to store ancillary equipment.  Locations could be on appropriate industrial or previously developed land, near to the main source of waste to reduce transport costs.  Like aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion can take place at any scale that is required and also requires a vessel.  The enclosure of such facilities within a building would be preferable.

Energy from Waste.

9.35 Waste recovery also includes the recovery of value from waste in the form of energy, through direct heat and/or electricity.  Energy from waste is the processing of waste under controlled conditions to produce heat which is recovered for a beneficial purpose.  Energy from Waste plants release carbon dioxide from burning carbon although they can displace the need to use more polluting fossil fuels to generate heat.  The Government therefore encourages the recovery of energy from waste, where appropriate, as part of its renewable energy strategy.  Energy from Waste includes a potentially wide range of facilities.  Some technologies are fully developed and in commercial use, such as incineration, whilst others still require full scale testing, particularly for unsegregated waste but technology is developing quickly.  Energy can also be recovered from waste through the use of waste as a fuel substitute.  Refuse derived fuel (RDF) is produced from MSW with non-combustible materials removed.  RDF can either be used on site or transported for use at alternative locations.  Sewage sludge drying also offers a potential source of renewable energy, capable of being converted directly to electricity or producing a product which can provide a medium calorific value fuel.  In any energy from waste proposal, the potential for including Combined Heat & Power (CHP) technology should be considered to maximise energy recovery. The range of available Energy from Waste technologies are likely to expand in the future but the most advanced at present include:

• Gasification
• Pyrolysis
• Incineration with energy recovery

9.36 In order to meet national and European waste recovery targets, the MWMSCD is clear that capacity for recovering energy from waste needs to be developed.  The MWMSCD states the County Council’s intention to pursue a policy which will avoid mass burn incineration.  The Strategy therefore includes the adoption of alternative waste to energy technologies.

9.37 The MWMSCD identifies the need to ensure that facilities are available to deal with biodegradable and non-biodegradable elements of the municipal waste stream in order to ensure that all targets for municipal waste are met.  The Strategy considers that if trials of pyrolysis and gasification systems prove successful in handling these waste streams, they will provide an alternative to incineration which will avoid many of its drawbacks.  The Strategy envisages that a single facility will be required in the short term but that a second plant may be required as more stringent targets take effect.

Gasification and Pyrolysis.

9.38 Gasification is a process where carbon based wastes are heated up in the presence of air or steam to produce fuel rich gases which are burnt to raise the temperature of the waste material still further.  Pyrolysis is a similar process to gasification which produces a liquid fuel.

9.39 Each of these technologies requires industrial scale facilities and are usually totally enclosed.  The scale and site area needed depends on the capacity of the plant and the ancillary waste sorting that is required.  The impacts in terms of land use planning are similar to those of aerobic digestion.  Like incineration, these technologies will be subject to a tightening of EU emission limits as a result of the EU Waste Incineration Directive.  Gasification and pyrolysis plants and anaerobic digesters can be accommodated on industrial estates, although it may be appropriate to locate the facilities close to the main sources of waste in order to satisfy the proximity principle.

Incineration.

9.40 The incineration process involves waste being burnt to generate heat, which is used to generate high pressure steam, which in turn generates electricity.  Some of the electricity can be used for the operation of the plant and the remainder exported to the national grid.  The surplus heat from the turbines can be used for local industrial and domestic heating schemes.  Using Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology helps maximise energy recovery but this is dependent on the availability and suitability of nearby users.  As well as the ability to generate heat and electricity, incineration has a number of benefits, including the ability to handle large volumes of waste which are reduced in volume and is a proven and commercially viable technology.  The construction of an incineration plant has high capital cost and operation itself invariably requires delivery of a minimum tonnage of waste over a long time period in order to generate consistent power output. Waste incineration is capable of handling the volumes of waste which will remain after re-use, recycling and composting but the capacity of any incinerator must not be so large as to undermine performance in waste reduction and recycling.

9.41 However, around 30% of the original volume of material remains as an ash residue.  This can be utilised where there is the potential for the recovery and industrial use of residues from the incineration process, or otherwise landfilled.  Until relatively recently, the main objective behind waste incineration was to reduce the bulk of waste to a smaller volume of ash to reduce landfill disposal.  Most of these incinerators were fitted with rudimentary emission control systems.  These early incinerators have closed down due to the introduction of EU Directives that have raised environmental standards for waste incineration and a further tightening of EU emission limits is expected with the proposed Waste Incineration Directive.

9.42 New waste incinerators have come on-stream in recent years, taking advantage of availability of funding through the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO).  However, there is still public concern in the UK over potential air-borne emissions from these new incinerators.  Planning has no direct control over this issue as pollution control is the sole responsibility of the Environment Agency.

Site Requirements

9.43 Energy from Waste facilities can range from small scale plants to large installations with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year or more. A major facility may require a site of around 3-5 hectares as these should be capable of accommodating a range of integrated waste management facilities dealing with recycling and materials recovery. Potential locations could include appropriate industrial areas, previously developed land and existing, permanent waste management facilities. These facilities should be located near to major waste arisings to reduce transport costs. To enable surplus heat to be used for community heating schemes, the plant needs to be near suitable end users, subject to environmental safeguards, as set out in Section 6 of the Plan.

• Back to Top

• Previous
• Next