Controversial incinerator plans unveiled (From Sutton Guardian)

Controversial incinerator plans unveiled

9:58am Monday 5th March 2012 in Your Say Exclusive By Matt Watts

Controversial plans for an incinerator in Beddington have been unveiled.

Waste company Viridor has revealed details of the facility on its landfill and waste management site in Beddington Lane, which will create energy from burning 275,000 tonnes of waste each year.

The £200m project, which will handle not only waste from Sutton, Croydon, Kingston, and Merton, but also large amounts of business waste.

By burning non-recyclable waste to create steam to power turbines, the incinerator is expected to produce about 30 megawatts of electricity and heat energy, estimated to be enough to power 30,000 homes.

It will be sold back to the national grid, while heat created could be used in homes in the vicinity The plans, are for a facility with access from Beddington Lane, which will cover a four hectare site.

Currently, Viridor is proposing its facility will have an 100m chimney stack, from which emissions from burning the waste will be released after filtering.

The centre will also feature a visitor and education centre.

Viridor has said it expects the incinerator to increase traffic to the site by up to 10 per cent when the incinerator is first built.

But it said eventually it expected traffic to the site to reduce, as the landfill site is converted back into park land.

Viridor will now embark on a period of public consultation - with a number of workshops and public exhibitions.

It expects to submit its planning application to Sutton Council in June 2012.

If succesful, the facility could be operational by the end of 2016.

An application to the Environment Agency for a Environmental permit to burn waste is expected to be submitted at the same time.

Detailed pollution studies will have to be conducted to support Viridor's application.