07 Feb Rivenhall IWMF update following the EA’s consultation period
In January 2019, Indaver and Gent Fairhead & Co Ltd. (GFC) submitted a variation application to the Environment Agency, outlining several changes to the proposed Rivenhall IWMF. These were namely, stricter controls on emissions of NOx, SO2 and certain heavy metals, as well as a proposed change to the incinerator’s stack height, from 58m to 35m.
Following 12 months of careful deliberation, an extensive technical assessment of the variation application and a review of the general public’s responses from Indaver’s public exhibitions, of which there were over 100, the Environment Agency came to a decision. It announced on January 2nd 2020 that a new Draft Environmental Permit for the proposed operation of the Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) at Rivenhall Airfield would be issued.
This consolidated permit incorporates variations that will authorise operations entirely consistent with the IWMF planning permission. The Environment Agency’s draft sets out the reasoning for their decisions and comprehensively addresses the concerns raised by the public. The EA is entirely in concordance with Indaver and GFC with regards to the environmental protections that the stipulated proposal offers, and are of the opinion that it provides for an equivalent level of environmental protection as that afforded by the current permit.
Following a public consultation period between 9th January 2020 and 6th February 2020, the Environment Agency have now started the process of reviewing the responses submitted by the public in order. Their conclusion is expected to be made in April 2020.
The purpose of the permitting process is to protect the environment so that statutory and Government policy environmental targets and outcomes are achieved. The Rivenhall facility, set to be built in the footprint of a quarry on a former airfield, will play an important role in the circular economy. It will divert waste from landfill, recover valuable materials from waste and produce electricity for export to the grid. By incorporating a 49 MW Energy from Waste facility, the proposed Rivenhall IWMF will work alongside recycling efforts made by the local community to benefit the facility’s surrounding area while supplying enough electricity to power over 60,000 homes, equivalent to a town the size of Braintree.
Indaver and GFC are working together on the final developmental stages of the proposed IWMF facility. GFC owns the Rivenhall Airfield site and Indaver operates waste recovery and treatment facilities at more than 30 locations across Europe. If you’d like to find out more about the details of the current environmental permit application, you can visit: www.wrren.co.uk.