Waste to Energy : Indaver to build £400 million Rivenhall waste incinerator

A £400 million waste incineration plant is set to be built at an airfield in Rivenhall, near Essex.

Last year, building permission was granted to the facility featuring a 35m chimney stack. Originally the plant had received building permission in 2010 but building stalled as an operation permit issued by the Environmental Agency was only granted in the previous year.

The plant is set to start processing waste in 2025 for the neighbouring counties though no agreement has been reached with Essex County Council.

Currently, the site is being prepared for an access road which is expected to take up to a year. Indaver, who will operate the facility with Gent Fairhead and Co, said that soil from excavation work will be utilised to restore a quarry next to the official building site whilst concrete from existing on-site structures will be repurposed for the facility build.

Gareth Jones, from Indaver said: "Waste that goes into landfill tends to degrade and it produces methane, which is a greenhouse gas.

"Although the waste here will be converted to carbon dioxide, that's still less damaging to the atmosphere."

Concerns over air pollution are high amongst residents. Nick Unsworth, from local campaign group Parishes against Incineration, which protests the building of the Rivenhall Incinerator, says that the facility stands to produce 200,000 tonnes of bottom ash or non-combustible residue.

"It will turn Essex into the country's ashtray," he said.

Parishes against Incineration also claimed that carbon emissions from the site would amount to 120,000 cars driving 8,000 miles a year.

The advocacy group has been fighting against Indaver’s plans for the past 5 years. They had hoped that a judicial review would overturn the building permit granted by the Environmental Agency for the building of the waste plant but a two-day hearing at the High Court saw the bid thrown out.

Witham MP and Home Secretary Priti Patel said she "supports the concerns of local residents" over the incinerator.

The environmental impact of waste incineration is of import.

Incineration is the highest emitter of CO2, with 0.9 metric tons of net CO2 emissions created for every metric ton of plastic burned. Yet the method is also an effective way to decrease solid waste emissions by up to 85%, reducing dependency on landfill.