Request
1. could you confirm that the nlwa now sees the planned incinerator as a resource ‘for the capital’ with a ‘needs case’ that is london-wide and that it aims to ‘free up as much capacity as possible’ to import waste from outside the nlwa area? this prospect raises several questions including: 2. what consultations were or will be carried out to set up the planned incinerator as a waste processing facility for the capital, rather than dealing primarily or exclusively with north london residual waste? 3. what environmental impacts assessments were or will be carried out, especially with regards to increased traffic? 4. what is the ‘needs case’ or business case? how much waste is expected, from where and at what fee? what is the projected revenue to the nlwa from waste imports? how does the increased capacity at cory and elsewhere affect these projections? what is the contingency plan should private operators be able to offer a more competitive gate fee for waste disposal? i would ask you to treat these questions as foi/ eir requests
Response
At present the existing energy from waste plant at the Edmonton EcoPark cannot accommodate all of north London’s residual (non-recyclable) waste. Around 500,000 tonnes of residual waste – around 87% of north London’s total – was managed via the plant in 2020 / 2021. The remainder is managed via third party facilities, including an energy from waste plant called Greatmoor in Buckinghamshire and Kemsley energy from waste facility in Kent. Further information about what happens to the waste that NLWA 1b Berol House, 25 Ashley Road Tottenham Hale N17 9LJ post@nlwa.gov.uk nlwa.gov.uk manages is available in the annual waste strategy monitoring reports and NLWA annual reports, which are both available on this webpage: https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/ourauthority/our-reports
The existing plant at the Edmonton EcoPark is reaching the end of its operational life. To safeguard future waste services, NLWA is upgrading the Edmonton EcoPark with new facilities. This including an Energy Recovery Facility which has been designed to manage all of north London’s non-recyclable waste over the coming decades. More information can be found online here: northlondonheatandpower.london
The ERF has been designed according to north London’s forecast waste needs in the future, with a capacity of up to 700,000 tonnes. As part of our efforts to boost recycling, we’ve designed the ERF to be flexible so that it doesn’t need to be full to run successfully. It can operate at lower volumes if residents move faster than expected to reduce their rubbish, so there is no need for us to take in external waste from other areas.
NLWA response to 1):
We can confirm that the needs case is not based on importing waste from outside the north London area.
NLWA response to 1), a), b), and c):
All documentation for the consultations, need case, environmental impact assessments relating to the North London Heat and Power Project were carried out for the Development Consent Order and do not include waste imports. These documents are publicly available at: http://northlondonheatandpower.london/documents/dco-document-library/
