Annex B Waste Sites and Proposed Waste Facilities
B1 PROPOSED WASTE FACILITY SITES IN THE WASTE PLAN B1.1 INTRODUCTION This Annex describes the proposed development sites that have been selected by Surrey County Council as preferred areas for development of waste facilities. A more detailed description of each site and an explanation for their selection for inclusion within the plan is provided in Surrey County Council s Site Assessment Reports (Detailed Consideration of Sites) produced by ERM (1). The locations of these sites are shown in Figure 1 (see Section 3.1 of the Main Report). B1.2 LAND ADJACENT TO TRUMPS FARM,LONGCROSS This site is 6.45ha (hectares) and lies approximately 1.7km north east of the Thames Basin Heaths SPA and Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham SAC. It is currently used as a temporary storage area by motorway contractors working for the Highways Agency. It is enclosed by well established vegetation and lies adjacent to and south of the M3 motorway. This site has been identified as a possible recycling, storage, transfer, materials recovery and processing facility. It lies approximately 5km from the nearest existing waste treatment facilities, which include a sewerage treatment facility and a compost facility. Trumps Farm has been identified as a possible site for a thermal treatment facility. As this site lies within Green Belt, any waste development should comply with Policy CW6. B1.3 MARTYRS LANE,WOKING The Martyrs Lane site covers an area of approximately 8ha and is situated approximately 500m east of Horsell Common, part of the Thames Basin Heaths SPA. It is now an area of waste ground which is used for fly tipping of scrap materials and old cars. Some areas of hard standing remain from previous site activities and these are now covered by mosses and other lowgrowing vegetation. The site is enclosed by trees mainly Douglas fir and silver birch, and dense scrub. The nearest existing waste facility is a Civic Amenity site which lies 150m west. Martyrs Lane has been identified as a possible site for recycling, storage, transfer, materials recovery and processing facility and a thermal treatment facility. As this site lies within Green Belt, any waste development should comply with Policy CW6. (1) Site Assessment Report 2A (September 2004), Site Assessment Report 2B (October 2004), Site Assessment Report 2C (January 2005) and Site Assessment Report 2D (July 2005) and Site Assessment Report 2E (February 2006). B1
B1.4 HEATHER FARM,HORSELL Heather Farm is located off Chobham Road in Horsell and lies immediately north of Horsell Common SSSI (part of the Thames Basin Heaths SPA). The site covers 6.4 ha and was previously used to farm mushrooms, hence a large proportion remains covered by hard standing and is currently disused. This area is within the Green Belt and is liable to flooding from the River Bourne which runs adjacent to the site to the north west. The existing buildings may be re-used to avoid impacts to the Green Belt or increasing the flood risk. Access to the site is currently along a relatively small (7m wide) road which runs north from the A3046, and was previously used as a site access for the former mushroom farm. The access route is bordered on both sides by the SSSI which is part of the Thames Basin Heaths SPA. The site has been identified in the Preferred Plan as having the potential for use as a recycling centre, for waste storage and / or transfer, materials recovery and as processing facility. In addition Woking Borough Council has identified this site as a possible location for a pyrolysis thermal treatment plant. As this site lies within Green Belt, any waste development should comply with Policy CW6. B1.5 LAND AT FORMER AIRFIELD,WISLEY This site is based at the former airfield located in Wisley 200m south of the A3 and immediately south of Wisley Common and Ockham Common SSSI (part of Thames Basin Heaths SPA). The site covers approximately 17ha, the majority of which is under hard standing and is surrounded by agricultural land. The site is located within the Green Belt. The Wisley airfield site has been identified as a possible site for recycling, storage, transfer, materials recovery and processing facility and a thermal treatment facility. As this site lies within Green Belt, any waste development should comply with Policy CW6. B1.6 SLYFIELD INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, LAND TO THE NORTH EAST,GUILDFORD This site covers an area of approximately 11ha and located off the intersection of Westfield Road and North Moors. This former landfill site has been restored to grassland, and is currently used for temporary storage by adjacent development, and for recreational use off road vehicles. There is also evidence of fly tipping. The site is located approximately 1.2 km east of Stringers Common and 1.5 km south east of Whitmoor Common. Both are part of the Thames Basin Heaths SPA. The Slyfield Industrial Estate site has been identified as a possible site for recycling, waste storage / transfer, materials recovery, and processing facility (excluding thermal treatment). B2
B1.7 OAK LEAF FARM,STANWELL MOOR Oak Leaf Farm covers an area of approximately 11ha, and is located on Horton Road, Stanwell Moor, approximately 3.5km south west of Heathrow Airport. The site is situated 90 m north of the King George VI and Staines Reservoirs, which form the South West London Waterbodies SPA/Ramsar site. The site has a history of waste related uses and is currently supporting an inert waste processing facility that receives approximately 120 000 tonnes of waste per annum, and exports a similar amount of processed materials. The site is surrounded by man made bunds. This site has been identified as a possible recycling, storage, transfer, materials recovery and processing facility (excluding thermal treatment). As this site lies within Green Belt, any waste development should comply with Policy CW6. B1.8 CHARLTON LANE,SHEPPERTON The Charlton Lane site covers approximately 5ha and is predominantly hard standing. It is an active transfer station with a new materials recovery facility (MRF) under construction, however, there is an additional area of approximately 1ha within the site boundary that could be developed in the future. As an operational site it is fully enclosed by high fencing, and lies adjacent to the M3. The site lies approximately 8.5km north of the nearest parts of the Thames Basin Heaths SPA. The Charlton Lane site has been identified as a possible site for recycling, waste storage / transfer, materials recovery, a processing facility and a thermal treatment facility. As this site lies within Green Belt, any waste development should comply with Policy CW6. B1.9 GODSTONE DEPOT Godstone Depot covers an area of approximately 2 hectares and lies immediately north of Godstone Ponds SSSI. It consists of several large buildings and a tarmacked surface and lies close to the A25. The site is currently used for vehicle storage. This site has been identified as a possible civic amenity site. As this site lies within Green Belt, any waste development should comply with Policy CW6. B1.10 EWHURST BRICKWORKS Ewhurst Brickworks, formerly known as Ockley or Smokejacks Brickworks, is an operational brickworks with an existing clay pit located within the site B3
boundary. The site abuts a derelict brickworks, formerly known as Ewhurst Brickworks, in the same ownership. Other infrastructure includes industrial and office buildings at the entrance of the site. The site is approximately 36ha, and is located entirely within Smokejack Clay Pit SSSI. This site was identified as a potential site for landfill based on the findings of a hydrological and geological survey, but the land owner does not consider it suitable to operate landfill and brick making together on the site in the waste plan period to 2016. Therefore it has not been allocated for waste development in the Waste Plan. B4
B2 TYPES OF WASTE FACILITY B2.1 INTRODUCTION This section provides an overview of the types of waste facility that are being considered, and the potential environmental impacts which may result from their construction and operation and effect Natura 2000 or nationally designated sites for nature conservation. A more detailed description of the types of facility is provided in Planning for Waste Management Facilities A Research Study Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (1). The following types of waste facility are considered in the waste plan: recycling of waste; waste storage; waste transfer; materials recovery; processing facilities; and thermal treatment facilities. It has been assumed that all the sites allocated in the plan except Heather Farm are capable of accommodating the proposed developments without any land-take. At Heather Farm, it is likely that the existing access road will have to be widened to accommodate the vehicles which could be expected to access the site. B2.2 RECYCLING,STORAGE,TRANSFER,MATERIALS RECOVERY AND PROCESSING FACILITIES Recycling, recovery and processing facilities cover a wide range of technology types that might include materials recovery facility, mechanical biological treatment plant, or autoclave plant (2). These facilities are expected to enable and to encourage waste to be used as a resource, and to recover materials that will be put to beneficial use. B2.2.1 Recycling of Waste - Civic Amenity Site (CA Site) CA sites are facilities that are provided by the Waste Disposal Authority at which local residents may deposit items of household waste that are not normally collected by the weekly collection service, eg bulky waste items such as beds, cookers and garden waste. (3) These facilities are generally located on areas of hard standing with a series of containers for the disposal of waste including recyclable material, (1) ODPM Planning for Waste Management Facilities: A Research Study. August 2004 Enviros Consulting. (2) Surrey County Council The Surrey Waste Plan The Preferred Plan 2005 ERM October 2005. (3) Proposed Alterations to Regional Planning Guidance, South East Regional Waste Management Strategy. South East England Regional Assembly. March 2004. Annex 7. p.125. B5
waste batteries, paint, oil, wood and garden waste. Supervisory staff are on site at these facilities during normal operating periods. Activities at CA sites do not typically involve those which result in contamination, aquatic discharges, nutrient enrichment, siltation, dust generation, or attract gulls and corvids (due to the large proportion of inert waste which is recycled). The main issues for consideration are those resulting from disturbance due to noise and air emissions which will be generated by the traffic moving to and from the facility, and also noise from the operating site as such sites are typically open facilities (ie not enclosed in buildings). It is expected that between 150 and 200 vehicles will visit a CA site daily. B2.2.2 Waste Transfer Stations (WTS) and Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF), Processing Facilities Waste transfer is the process whereby waste is taken from waste producers, (industrial, commercial and general public) and bulked up prior to being transported to another location for treatment. This is done at a transfer station, which usually comprises a large building/shed with hard stand concrete floors where vehicles deliver material onto the floor, into bays or into compaction units. A MRF is a facility that sorts, grades and prepares waste fractions suitable for onward dispatch to reprocessors.mrfs accept materials from source separation schemes and increasingly utilise automated equipment MRFs extract recyclables from municipal solid waste. (1) Processing facilities receive and sort waste, usually mechanically, or in combination with hand sorting facilities. Metals are often removed by magnetic separation. Recovered materials are bailed and stored. Some sites also have composting facilities for any organic content which can be recovered and formed into compost. The main activities likely to generate environmental impacts are from the movements of vehicles to and from these facilities, which can generate air emissions and noise. One of the reasons for the use of WTSs is however, to reduce the distance over which waste has to be carried and hence the number of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) movements in the region. These in turn reduce the amount of fuel used and hence atmospheric emissions generated, and can also reduce traffic congestion. (2) A recent application for a combined WTS and MRF in East Sussex (160,000 tpa throughput) indicated that approximately 50 HGV trips per day would be required. The used of enclosed buildings will help to reduce noise emissions and control air emissions such as dust (see Annex E). Modern facilities control this further (1) Proposed Alterations to Regional Planning Guidance, South East Regional Waste Management Strategy. South East England Regional Assembly. March 2004.. Annex 7. p.126. (2) Waste Strategy 2000: Part 2. DETR. May 2000. Annex D. p.199. B6
by the use of fine water mist sprays as described in recent planning submissions for such facilities. It has been assumed that there will be no discharges to watercourses, and there are no air emissions via a stack. Should any processing facilities require discharges to watercourses these will need to be assessed further, however these would be required to achieve a discharge consent from the Environment Agency, who would ensure that an Appropriate Assessment was undertaken if necessary. B2.3 THERMAL TREATMENT Thermal treatment is a generic term, and can include mass burn waste incineration, gasification and pyrolysis. The scale of these facilities varies with large scale plants receiving between 90,000 and 600,000+ tonnes of waste per year, and requiring a site of 2-5ha. B2.3.1 Mass Burn Incineration Incineration is the combustion of waste in a controlled way in order to destroy it or transform it into less hazardous, less bulky or more controllable constituents. It may be used to dispose of a wide range of waste streams including municipal solid waste, commercial, clinical and certain types of industrial waste. Where municipal solid waste is used its viability relies upon the recovery of energy, usually through the generation of electricity from high temperature steam turbines or through district heating schemes. The emissions from such plants to air (maximum amounts are for a 250,000 tonnes waste per year incinerator) are: Acid gases oxides of nitrogen (270 t yr -1 ), sulphur dioxide 67 t yr -1 ), hydrogen chloride (13 t yr -1 ) and hydrogen fluoride (1.3 t yr -1 ); particulate matter (13 t yr -1 ); products of incomplete combustion such as carbon monoxide (67 t yr -1 ), dioxins, furans (0.014 g yr -1 ) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic, zinc, chromium, copper, nickel (total of 0.8 t yr -1 ); Other: contaminated waste water; and contaminated ash. B2.3.2 Pyrolysis and Gasification Pyrolysis and gasification are both types of thermal processing. They use high temperatures to break down: carbon-based waste such as paper; B7
petroleum based wastes like plastics; and organic materials such as food scraps. The main emissions from these processes are as follows: air emissions including acid gases (known as syngas (1) ), dioxins and furans, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, particulates, cadmium, mercury, lead and hydrogen sulphide; solid residues include inert mineral ash, inorganic compounds, oils, and any remaining unreformed carbon (which is also inert); treated water which is used to wash the waste in the pre-treatment stage, and to clean the gas. The gases, oils and solid char produced can be used as a fuel or purified and used as a feedstock, for example in the petrochemical industry. Most alternatives to mass-burn incineration being developed now use a combination of pyrolysis and gasification. These technologies are still being developed for commercial application and hence indicative emission details are not yet available. (1) Predominantly carbon monoxide and hydrogen (85 per cent), with smaller amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. B8