" It is vital that we plan properly the facilities needed to deal with the thousands of tonnes of rubbish produced in Cambridgeshire while balancing those facilities with the needs of the local community and environment. The Government has made it quite clear that landfilling large amounts of waste is not an option anymore and more environmentally friendly ways of managing rubbish has to be used. This new facility will put Cambridgeshire at the forefront in the region for managing waste."
Cllr John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Services
Cambridgeshire County Council has approved an application by Donarbon Limited to develop a modern technology mechanical biological treatment plant (MBT) at Waterbeach. The new facility will deal with residual wastes (black bag refuse) by removing material for recycling and then composting the remainder.
The proposal also includes administrative offices together with a proposed education/visitors’ centre which would provide a modern, purpose-built venue for receiving school and university parties and other interested groups or individuals who wish to learn more about waste management and recycling.
Donarbon propose building the plant on their existing Waste Management Park at Waterbeach located off the A10 between Waterbeach and Chittering. The site is already used for sorting, recycling, treating and composting green waste from Cambridgeshire.
The County Council’s Development Control Committee supported the proposals at their meeting on Monday.
Donarbon’s MBT facility
The facility would treat mixed household waste in two ways:
Materials arriving at the plant would be mechanically separated and sorted to recover recyclable materials such as metals and plastic bottles and remove other materials suitable for further processing or use.
The remaining waste materials from the initial mechanical sorting process would then be composted in an enclosed building to reduce its biodegradability. After about 6-weeks a compost-like material would be the result which could be used as a soil conditioner or deposited in landfill as a treated material. Treatment of wastes before being deposited in landfill is a requirement of the Landfill Directive.
Donarbon considers that there will only be a minimal increase in heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) movements with the addition of a few more movements from the west of the County. It is estimated traffic will increase by 10 HCV movements per day. Access will continue to be via the existing roundabout off the A10 into the Waste Management Park.
The facility and associated infrastructure would occupy approximately three hectares and encompass three new large buildings. The proposed new buildings are said by the council to have been designed to a high standard, using where possible, recycled building materials and environmentally friendly techniques and would be no higher than the existing waste transfer building already on the site.
The site layout has been designed to minimise the impact of the operations on nearby residents and the surrounding area. All waste processing operations would take place within the buildings and these working areas are will be screened from the nearest residential properties.
The location and layout of the buildings are designed to ensure that noise, odours and litter will be controlled. Noise assessments submitted in support of the planning application conclude there is likely to be an overall reduction in noise from the site at nearby properties.
The facility would process the waste streams currently accepted at the site which include mixed household wastes from Cambridgeshire and other municipal wastes within a local catchment area.
The County Council’s current estimates on the tonnage required to be processed in the County range from 143,000 to 188,000 tonnes per year over the next 30 years.
The proposed hours of operation are the same as the existing permitted operation, i.e. wastes can be delivered to the site between 7am and 6pm Mon to Fri, 7am to 4pm on Sat and between 9am and 4pm on Sun and Bank Holidays. The MBT facility itself is likely to operate between 6am to 9pm Mon to Fri and 6am to 2pm on Sat.
Comments
Cambridgeshire County Councillor, John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Services, said:
“It is vital that we plan properly the facilities needed to deal with the thousands of tonnes of rubbish produced in Cambridgeshire while balancing those facilities with the needs of the local community and environment. The Government has made it quite clear that landfilling large amounts of waste is not an option anymore and more environmentally friendly ways of managing rubbish has to be used. This new facility will put Cambridgeshire at the forefront in the region for managing waste.”