By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
More than 900 people have objected to plans for a plastic recovery plant in Worksop.
The facility would use pyrolysis to break down plastic at very high temperatures so the components can be used again.
However, campaigners say the site – once a recycling centre – is now in a residential area and is no longer suitable for use.
The plans have been submitted by Envale Ltd, which has described them as “the answer to Nottinghamshire’s waste problem”.
Plans claim the pyrolysis plant will prevent 24,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste going to landfills each year and generate enough electricity to power 650 homes.
The previous recycling centre on Shireoaks Road burned down in 2014, and the site has been vacant since then.
The Shireoaks and Rhodesia Against Plastic Pyrolysis (SRAPP) campaign group rallied local people to submit more than 900 written objections.
Member Lesley Rowlands said: “We hope the strength of public feeling in the local area will be justification for Nottinghamshire County Council to refuse it.
“It was once an industrial area but that’s been phased out over the last 50 years for residential developments and shops. It’s no longer fit for that purpose.
“People are also concerned about so many lorries going in and out of this junction, which is already an accident hotspot due to the existing recycling centre.
“The more people have gained an understanding of pyrolysis, the more they don’t like it.”
Public consultation has now closed, and the application will be determined by the county council’s planning committee in the coming months.
Campaigners hope Bassetlaw District Council will add its voice to objections at its planning meeting next week (Wednesday, August 14).
A member of the Shireoaks Plastic Recycling Centre & Energy Recovery Facility project team said previously: “The development will allow the site to modernise and operate once again as a Materials Recovery Facility and Waste Transfer Station, whilst providing on-site solutions to residual waste.
“[This will mean] reducing export requirements, providing a proximate solution to plastic and other residual waste arisings, improving resource circularity and driving waste management up the waste hierarchy from disposal to recycling and recovery.
“The Shireoaks Plastics Recycling Centre will recover and recycle hydrocarbons from residual waste plastic, which due to contamination, composite structure or low output value have been rejected by traditional mechanical recycling methods and would otherwise be transferred to energy recovery facilities or landfill.
“The Energy Recovery Facility will prevent to 24,369 tonnes per annum of non-recyclable, residual waste from going to landfill and will generate up to 10 Megawatts of heat and 2.5 Megawatts of electricity – enough to power over 650 homes every year. The facilities are an answer to Nottinghamshire’s plastic and residual waste problem.
“This is a carefully considered proposal, supported by robust environmental technical assessments which have been scoped following pre-application discussions with Nottinghamshire County Council and the local community. We look forward to working with the technical experts at the council who will now evaluate the proposals”.
