New food waste plant 'could heat 9,000 homes'

A new £25m facility that could heat more than 9,000 homes by turning food waste into biogas is set to be built.

Wiltshire Council has granted permission for the anaerobic digestion facility - where microorganisms will break down organic matter - at Park Grounds near the M4 at Royal Wootton Bassett.

Eco Sustainable Solutions Ltd, said it plans to use the plant to process about 100,000 tonnes of food and liquid waste a year, despite concerns from objectors about traffic problems, odour and the environment.

Local councillor Lianna Konig said she feared whether the benefits outweighed the development's overall impact, and expressed concern about the "industrialisation" of the countryside.

Work is now expected to begin at the start of next year, and could take 12 to 18 month before the site is fully built.

Chiefs at Eco Sustainable Solution Ltd want to build the plant on agricultural land next to an existing waste site, and claim it would save more than 7,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions a year.

The plant will process household food by removing contaminants before breaking down microorganisms which then creates a biomethane gas that can be used to heat homes.

Mike Eborne, technical development director at Eco Sustainable Solutions, said some of the gas used will also fuel their HGVs delivering waste with their on-site refuelling depot.

Eborne said the site will offer a "vital sustainable solution for Wiltshire's upcoming food waste collections".

The site will also create around 62,000 tonnes of bio-fertiliser.

"It [Bio-fertiliser] would be stored in a sealed lagoon and collected by local farmers in place of fossil-based fertilisers," Eborne added.

However, the application attracted more than 50 comments raising concerns about offensive odours, air quality and bioaerosols, HGV movements, flooding, lighting and the impact on neighbouring businesses.

Some objectors questioned why another anaerobic digestion facility was needed when capacity existed elsewhere.

Councillor Elizabeth Threlfall said the area could become "the compost bin for the south-west".

Eborne explained that the site will be regulated by the Environmental Agency.

"Waste would be tipped inside a sealed building kept under negative air pressure, and the air would be treated," he added.

Planning officers at the council concluded there was no significant harm that would outweigh the benefits of the waste site.

When assessing traffic they forecast 42 HGV visits a day under typical conditions, rising to about 52 vehicles under its worst-case assessment, adding HGVs will be routed away from nearby villages.

The planning permission includes conditions covering odour, noise, lighting, drainage, landscaping and vehicle movements, while the facility will also require a bespoke environmental permit.

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