Peel Environmental and Covanta Energy have partnered to develop a GBP500m eco-park, which is designed to increase waste recycling, reprocessing and energy recovery, in the North West of England.
The eco-park will be located adjacent to the Stanlow Oil Refinery on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal about 10 miles to the east of Chester and within easy reach of both Manchester and Liverpool. It will be resource recovery park run by Ince Park, in a joint venture partnership between Covanta and Peel.
Under the agreement, Covanta Energy will design, build, own and operate an Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility, which will be the heart of the eco-park. This facility will turn household and business waste into heat and up to 95MW of electricity, enough to meet the needs of about 150,000 homes. Construction of the EfW facility is anticipated to commence in 2011.
Peel Environmental and Covanta will jointly market the remainder of the 126 acre site to organizations in the waste and environmental sectors. They will promote the use of the Manchester Ship Canal’s deep water berth for the transportation of goods to and from the eco-park as well as its rail sidings and easy access to the motorway (M56). About 50 acres of the site has already been earmarked for extensive landscaping and a nature reserve.
Myles Kitcher, director of Peel Environmental, said: “We are delighted to have found a partner in Covanta who is committed to delivering the EfW plant at the earliest possible opportunity.
“This means that we are looking at several hundred construction jobs over a three year period in addition to creating more than 1,000 full time jobs across the full Ince site. Jobs we promised during the planning process will now become a reality.”
Malcolm Chilton, Covanta Energy’s UK managing director, said: “Our Energy-from-waste facility will be the heart of the eco-park which we believe will be a model for the future.
“It represents the most sensible and viable alternative to our country’s current over reliance on landfill for municipal and business waste. It will provide the energy and means to truly make recycling and reprocessing a reality and not just an aspiration.”