East Suffolk Council
Environmental protection
Public Consultation as part of the application process for an Environmental Permit - 18 September 2023 - 30 October 2023
Small Waste Incineration Plant - V.C. Cooke Ltd, Beccles
The Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016
The proposal to build and operate a Small Waste Incineration Plant (SWIP) in Beccles was submitted to Suffolk County Council and planning permission was granted in May 2023. This plant will be owned, constructed and managed by V.C. Cooke Ltd alongside their existing waste operation on the Ellough Industrial estate, Ellough Road, Beccles, NR34 7TQ.
In law, as well as planning permission for a waste incinerator, the operators need to obtain a Permit from the Council to ensure it operates with minimal pollution.
V.C. Cooke Ltd have applied for this permit, which means they have given us information and data about how the site will be built and controlled. We have to follow a strict process to assess whether their application proves the process will not cause harm to human health or the environment.
We must consult with our residents when we receive an application, so we invite you to take part and give us any information or facts about the site that may not be included in the application paperwork. This helps us make sure we have fully assessed how the operator intends to manage the incinerator.
If a permit is granted and the site is built, the Council then continues its role as a regulator by making regular inspections and checks to ensure that the operator is complying with the Permit.( Chapters I and IV and Annex VI of the IED (Industrial Emission Directive).
View the application on the public register.
Any comments on the application should be made to the East Suffolk Council using the following email address ep@eastsuffolk.gov.uk or sent to Environmental Protection, ESC (East Suffolk Council), Riverside, Canning Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0EQ.
Any written comments will be placed on the public register unless they include a statement requesting that this is not done.
The consultation period will be for a period of 6 weeks and will end on 30.10.23.
Issues that can be considered in the decision-making process are:
- Relevant environmental regulatory requirements and technical standards.
- Information on local population and sensitive sites such as schools.
- The shape and use of the land around the site in terms of its potential impact, whether that impact is acceptable and what pollution control or abatement may be required.
- Permit conditions by supplying information that we have not been made aware of in the application, or by correcting incorrect information in the application (e.g., monitoring and techniques to control pollution).
Issues that cannot be considered in the decision-making process are:
- Issues beyond those in the relevant environmental regulations.
- Anything outside the remit of the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016, e.g., the proposed location of the site, which is done by the local authority via land use planning.
- Whether waste incineration is the right solution to deal with waste in that area, including whether it could have a higher impact than alternatives such as landfill,
- The impact of noise and odour from traffic travelling to and from the site,
- The legally defined process we follow to determine a permit.
- The visual impact of the energy-from-waste (EfW) plant,
- Strength of public opposition to plans for the EfW plant,
- The effect of the facility on global warming, other than the extent that the global warming potential of the EfW plant is controlled using best available techniques to minimise carbon dioxide emissions and nitrous oxide emissions,
- Environmental impacts of emissions that exceed the limits set out in the permit. These are instead assessed on an individual basis when they occur and followed up by appropriate compliance or enforcement action as part of the inspection and monitoring process.