More questions have been posed of a potential £300m project which will take household waste from several North-East councils and burn it on Teesside.
The Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF) is due to be built on land west of Tees Dock Road, in Grangetown, part of the Teesworks industrial complex.
Last month, Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh announced the Government would only back plans for new waste incinerators if it can be demonstrated a project will help lower the amount of non-recyclable waste sent to landfill, or enable the replacement of older, less efficient plants.
New projects must be carbon capture ready and show how they can best make use of the heat they produce.
New incinerator plan concerns
Meanwhile at a Redcar and Cleveland Council meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor Jemma Joy said there were “ongoing concerns surrounding the environmental and health impacts of constructing a new incinerator”.
She asked what steps had been taken to explore the potential of short-term contracts with existing facilities in the area in order to “avoid committing to a costly and risky long-term project and help elected members arrive at an informed and rational decision”.
Independent councillor Dr Tristan Learoyd repeated assertions that the council would “never hit” a previously published target of becoming net zero carbon by 2030 due to its involvement with the scheme.
He previously wrote to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband asking him to halt the incinerator and has also warned about the financial impact of a carbon emissions tax being applied to the waste management sector from 2028.
The project itself
As well Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton along with Darlington, Durham County, and Newcastle City councils are onboard with the project.
Once up and running potentially in 2029 the facility will process up to 450,000 tonnes of household rubbish a year, using it to generate almost 50,000 megawatts of electricity for the National Grid.
Two firms, Viridor and Green Recovery Projects Limited have been shortlisted to operate the facility with a further announcement expected later in 2025.
The winning bidder will design, build and finance it with the councils paying back through the cost of the service over the lifetime of the awarded contract.
The TVERF previously missed out on Government carbon capture and storage funding, which would have assisted with efforts to be net zero carbon, although it is being designed so such infrastructure can be installed in future should an opportunity arise.
The bidders have been given targets to reduce carbon dioxide output from flue emissions year-on-year through operational efficiencies.
Answering the councillors’ questions, deputy leader Councillor Carrie Richardson said: “Once the evaluation process has been completed in April or May, a report will be presented to all the councils involved which will include a business plan, detailed costings and comparisons to viable alternatives.
“The councils will then decide whether to appoint a preferred tenderer and go forward with the awarding of a contract later in 2025, or whether not to progress.”
Waste disposal
Many local authority areas have seen recycling rates stall or even go backwards over recent years, Redcar and Cleveland among them.
Almost half of all waste – 49% – collected by local councils in 2022/23 was incinerated, with just 40% recycled.
It’s not clear what any new requirements would mean for the TVERF since it has already received planning permission in July 2023 with environmental permits also being granted.
The incinerator and clean energy goals
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs announcement described only a “limited need” for the development of further waste incinerators due to collection and packaging reforms being rolled out, which are projected to cut 1.2 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste.
However it said such facilities remained a better option than landfill, and exporting heat while delivering carbon capture processes at the same time would support the Government’s “clean energy superpower mission”.
New energy recovery plants would have to prove capable of exporting heat from day one and developers are also being encouraged to forecast changes to future capacity and demand, regardless of what stage they are at.
Statements issued on behalf of the TVERF council consortium have described a “critical and essential piece of infrastructure” for the North East along with the “local, secure, reliable and affordable treatment solution for the rubbish left over after recycling, helping the project partners move towards their shared long-term goal of sending zero waste to landfill”.
Waste incinerators that convert rubbish into energy typically only have lifespans of between 25 and 30 years.
Existing contracts with the private sector to use this method of disposal are also coming to an end with the councils clubbing together in a bid to jointly procure their own waste management solution, which it is also said will achieve economies of scale and reduce costs.
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