SWERF

A waste to energy plant which Derby City Council wants to see built in Sinfin has been hailed as a solution to the waste problem. But residents and environmentalists are opposed to the Swerf technology, some claiming that it is just another incinerator. Australian firm Brightstar's plans to build a waste-to-energy plant in Sinfin have met with opposition from local residents and environmentalists. And although the city council has backed the plan, authorities in India and Australia have not been so enthusiastic. We are told it will be safe for Sinfin, but plans to build a revolutionary recycling plant near slums in India have been halted amid health fears.

Derby City Council's planning control committee unanimously approved Brightstar's plans for Sinfin in February - despite opposition from residents and environmentalists. But since the site had previously been earmarked as an "open space", the matter was referred to the then Local Government Secretary, Stephen Byers. He decided not to intervene, leaving the council free to grant planning permission, which it did in May - angering Brightstar's opponents. Derby City Council's cabinet member for environment and direct services believes the Swerf would benefit the city as a whole.

In July last year, Councillor Ashok Kalia signed a short-term waste management contract with Brightstar, which would see the Swerf processing 50,000 tonnes of domestic rubbish a year. He said, "We have a mega problem in that more and more waste is being generated by Derbyshire households every year. We have to get rid of it somehow and, as a council, we are looking for the best way to do that. We want to put more and more effort into recycling and composting - and we are - but there will always be some waste left to deal with. I do not believe in incineration - it is a waste. And I do not believe in shoving rubbish into landfill sites."

"We do not want what happened at Loscoe to happen again. Swerf does not burn rubbish. It gets more out of it and does not create pollutants. At this stage, it is the best solution to the waste problem. Even if we wanted to go on using landfill sites, we could not. Bretby, where we send waste, is coming to the end of its life and is due to close in a year or so. The Government penalises councils for sending stuff to landfill by making us pay landfill tax, and the price we are charged per tonne looks set to rise soon. Recycling will benefit the Council Tax payers in pounds and pence, as well as protecting the environment for future generations of Derby residents."

"We want to make it easier for householders to recycle by providing twin-bins and we have applied to the Government for £1m to help pay for this. We are not putting all our eggs in the Swerf basket. More kerbside collections and separate bins for waste that can be composted will boost recycling rates. The Swerf will also send some rubbish for recycling, as well as using what is left to generate green electricity."

Derby's 100,000 households generated 111,000 tonnes of waste last year, just over a tonne per household. Of this, only 12%, 13,320 tonnes, was recycled, with the remaining 97,680 tonnes going to landfill sites. For every tonne of waste sent for landfill, councils have to pay £11 in tax. In 2002, Derby City Council paid just over £1m. This tax increases by £1 per tonne per year, but the Treasury is currently considering doubling it to force councils to boost their recycling rates. On top of landfill tax, councils have to pay for the waste to be disposed. This took the cost to Derby taxpayers to £3.5m last year.

If the Swerf is built, waste used to create electricity will not count towards the council's recycling targets. Derby City Council hoped to introduce a twin-bin system to increase its recycling rate to 33% by 2005 to meet Government targets. And in March, it joined forces with the county's eight district and borough councils to apply for a £5m Government grant. The bid failed and the city council must wait to find out if a second one has been a success.

A £5m recycling plant designed to handle all the glass, plastic, paper and textiles produced by Derby's 100,000 households is to be built in the city. R U Recycling, which runs a similar plant in Blackburn, Lancashire, has identified three sites suitable for the plant in Spondon, Ascot Drive and Stores Road. It would measure 26,000 sq ft, about two-thirds the size of a football pitch, and be at least eight metres high. R U Recycling has signed a contract to recycle Derby's waste for the next 10 years. It is expected to take 90,000 tonnes of waste a year. This will include glass, plastic, cans, paper and textiles. Part of the the contract with R U Recycling was that the firm would build a new plant in Derby.

Until the new plant is built, Derby's waste will be taken to the company's Blackburn plant. The new plant, which will be owned by the company, will help the council's kerbside twin-bin recycling scheme, which sees plastic, bottles, cans and paper collected from outside people's homes. Currently, almost a third of the city's 100,000 households are involved in the scheme, with the bottles and cans having been until recently sorted by hand. Areas already benefiting are Chellaston, Littleover, Mickleover, Allestree and parts of Oakwood and Chaddesden. It will soon be extended to the rest of Oakwood and Chaddesden, Spondon and Alvaston.

In 2006, Sinfin, Allenton and the inner city will be included too. Neil Haslam, council waste management officer, said, "We recognised two years ago that our system couldn't cope with the increased amount of recycling we would have when we expanded the kerbside scheme, so we realised we needed to scale up our sorting." The council needs to increase its recycling rate from less than 20% to 30% by 2006 to meet Government targets. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Derby City Council is more interested in promoting recycling and composting rather than converting waste to energy. Although planning permission has been granted for the 8.5-acre site, Brightstar has not applied for its operating licence, which needs to be obtained from the Environment Agency. Peter Cumberlidge, Brightstar's general manager, admits that the scheme is behind schedule but says that he is hopeful there will be progress later this year. "We're starting discussions on the licence application with the Environment Agency," he said. "We're a bit behind. Now it looks likely that we'll apply for the licence in September or October."

Brightstar is waiting until its plant in Wollongong, Australia, is fully operational so that information from that can be used in applying for the licence. It could take between six and nine months to determine the application. Until the licence is granted, Swerf would not be able to operate, although building work could start at any time. And now it seems that Brightstar may face another obstacle. Derby City Council has admitted that its priorities are to recycle and compost waste rather than setting up waste-to-energy plants such as Swerf. It is promoting its kerbside recycling scheme, which is currently being piloted in Chellaston and Shelton Lock, and the civic amenity site at Raynesway.

The moves have been prompted by Government targets of recycling 33% of domestic waste by 2005/6. The latest figures for Derby City Council show that 118,000 tonnes of household waste was produced in a year. Of that, 2,800 tonnes was composted and 12,400 tonnes was recycled - a recycling rate of 12.9%. There has also been the suggestion that, if Brightstar fails to win its licence, the site may be used for alternative technologies. Guidelines from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs state that local authorities dealing with waste should follow certain rules.

Waste reduction is the top priority, followed by re-use, recycling, composting and then energy recovery. But Mr Cumberlidge does not think that the Swerf scheme is being neglected in favour of other recycling schemes. He said that the Government was placing a lot of emphasis on recycling and composting as well as diverting waste from landfill, which is what he sees as Brightstar's role. He said, "In our project in Australia the city has a three-bin collection system - one has garden waste, one for recyclable waste and the other for non-recyclable things, which is what we have. This leaves quite a large amount of material which we can then turn into energy."

The protesters are claiming a small victory and have welcomed the revised stance of the council. Protest group Swerve the Swerf collected 4,000 signatures against the plant. Nikki Clarke, co-ordinator of the group, said, "I think it's brilliant that the council is prioritising recycling and it'll be cheaper for taxpayers in Derby." Dorothy Skrytek, of Derby Friends of the Earth, who stood in the recent council elections as a single-issue candidate, said, "The council has shifted but I'd like them to go further and say they're not going to have it there at all."

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