Hertfordshire County Council has approved plans for a controversial incinerator in Hoddesdon, which would be used for all of the county’s waste.

The ‘high-efficiency energy recovery facility’, to be developed by Veolia, is designed to treat all of Hertfordshire’s residual local authority collected waste and generate electricity. HCC’s cabinet accepted Veolia’s revised project plan in principle at a meeting on Monday (14 March).

The proposals arose after a similar application in Hatfield was approved by HCC, but subsequently thrown out last year by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Following a legal challenge, the High Court quashed the decision of the DCLG Secretary of State. The application was returned to the Secretary of State who again refused permission.

In August 2015, Veolia decided not to pursue any further legal proceedings with respect to the New Barnfield site, and submitted revised plans for the Hoddesdon plant in January 2016.

Hatfield Against Incineration, which protested against the controversial New Barnfield site in Hatfield for eight years, joined Hoddesdon protestors outside the council’s offices in Hertford on Monday. Despite the opposition, the cabinet unanimously voted in favour of the plans.

Veolia hopes to submit a planning application by the autumn. The various processes will then take around a year before a final decision is made, and a public consultation will be carried out during this phase.

The proposed site is part of an industrial area to the east of Hoddesdon, not far from the site of a £60-million, 10MW thermal treatment development that will use commercial and industrial waste in a gasification process that is backed in part by the Green Investment Bank.

‘Site will divert 97 per cent of waste away from landfill’

Commenting on the plans, Councillor Richard Thake, Hertfordshire’s Cabinet member for Community Safety and Waste Management, said: “The proposed site will divert 97 per cent of waste away from landfill which is good news and at the same time will substantially reduce the emissions associated with our existing waste transport arrangements.

“So as well as providing good value for money for Hertfordshire taxpayers, it’s a better environmental choice. In an ideal world all waste would be reused or recycled, and Hertfordshire’s residents are doing a great job. But with the current recycling rates around 50 per cent and significant housing growth expected in the county, we have to plan for an on-going, value for money and suitable way of disposing of the residual waste we continue to produce.”

Location of proposed plant was ‘deemed to be unsustainable’

According to the Chairman of the Hoddesdon Society, Jan Metcalf, Veolia had initially argued against building in the Hoddesdon site. She told the Hertfordshire Mercury: “What I find strange is that they are talking about this and yet it’s disregarding their waste plan that doesn’t even identify this site as feasible. During the Barnfield inquiry, they looked at fields like us and said it was too small… Its geographical location on the extreme south-east boundary was deemed to be unsustainable in terms of transport costs.”

Veolia awarded eight-year contract with St Albans

Veolia’s presence in Hertfordshire was last week increased when the company was awarded an eight-year recycling, waste and street cleansing contract with St Albans District Council.

The contract begins on Monday, 13 June and includes the collection of recycling, refuse and organic waste, street cleansing, fly-tip removal and emptying litter bins. The £40-million contract will see the introduction of weekly rather than fortnightly collections of food waste, which will be transformed into garden compost.

Veolia says that it is targeting an increase in the city’s recycling rate from 52.3 per cent in 2015 to 60 per cent within two years.

Estelle Brachlianoff, Senior Executive Vice-President, Veolia UK and Ireland, said: “This new contract further increases our presence in Hertfordshire and will deliver cost savings to the council as well as environmental benefits.

“By introducing the increased frequency food waste service, using the latest technology and working closely with residents, we are well placed to achieve the new recycling targets and replenish more precious resources.”

More information can be found at HCC’s website.