Cardiff incinerator gets draft approval from Environment Agency

• Posted On: 26/07/2010 15:43:19

• Category: Waste Management

The Environment Agency have reportedly made a ‘draft decision’ giving waste management firm Viridor the go ahead to develop a new incinerator facility in Cardiff.

The facility – which will cost around £150 million to complete, when it will be capable of creating enough energy to power 50,000 households – has already received planning permission from Cardiff Council but Viridor have been waiting for the Environment Agency Wales to give them the green light. A spokesperson for the EA said:

At this stage we do not anticipate that the facility will cause any significant risk to the health of people who live nearby, or to the environment”

"We can see no reason, at this stage, why Viridor should not be given an environmental permit."

The next stage of the process is a public consultation, where it is expected that one of the groups against the project, Friends of the Earth, will lodge a protest. Representatives for the environmental organisation have called the incinerator “wasteful” and “polluting”.

The protests, also supported by many local residents, are related to the transport of waste to and from the site. It is estimated that 250 waste collection trucks will visit the site each day, delivering a total of 350,000 tonnes of waste per year.