An energy from waste facility, which will turn all of Suffolk’s residual household waste into electricity, has been given the go ahead.
Planning permission for the plant at Great Blakenham near Ipswich was granted last week and earlier this month the Environment Agency issued the necessary draft permit for the site – effectively giving SITA UK the green light to proceed.
Building work is due to start later this year and the plant should be open by December 2014.
Mark Bee, Leader of Suffolk County Council, which has a 25-year contract with SITA UK to build and then run the site, said: “I am delighted we can now start work on this project which will provide Suffolk with a cheaper, greener solution for disposing of household waste which cannot reasonably be recycled.
“We are proud that Suffolk is one of the top recycling areas in the country with over half our household waste recycled. We want to do even better and aim to get to 60% by 2015.
“But there will always be waste left over. Now, we’ll be putting that waste to good use as a fuel to generate electricity. Over the life of the contract this will be around £350 million cheaper than continuing to landfill, and it will also be better for the environment.”
However, Opposition Leader, Kathy Pollard, has already indicated her opposition to the project, believing that there are better technical alternatives.
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