August 25 2011.
A reduction in articulated vehicles that were planned to take materials away from the Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at North Quay, Newhaven is now possible using rail transport following the granting of planning permission for storage facilities in an adjacent rail goods yard.
The Day Group, employed by Veolia to transport and recycle non-hazardous bottom ash generated as a bi-product of the energy recovery process, has gained planning permission. Once built, around 60,000 tonnes per annum of ash will be transported by rail from the facility, as opposed to road.
The ash will now be sent by rail to be processed off-site where metals will be recovered for recycling before the residual ash is graded and used in the construction industry as an aggregate substitute.
This will also create two new full time jobs in Newhaven on top of the 31 full time jobs already created by the ERF. Transportation by rail is expected to start this autumn/winter.
The decision ensures that Newhaven will become what is believed to be the only ERF in the UK to utilise rail transportation.
Energy Recovery Facilities have significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than landfill. Transportation by rail will assist in Veolia's aim of further reducing the carbon footprint of the Energy Recovery Facility at Newhaven.
"This is a win-win situation for Newhaven and the environment, fewer heavy goods vehicles on the road, more long term secure jobs and an infrastructure not only generating electricity enough to power 25,000 homes out of rubbish but also harnessing more sustainable transport." said Keith McGurk of Veolia South Downs.
He continued: "Opportunities to reduce road traffic and enhance our environmental performance in Newhaven are always of interest and I am pleased that planning permission for this new facility has been granted and we are now in a position to deliver another sustainable solution for good waste management."
Once fully operational most of the vehicles using the facility will be municipal waste collection vehicles collecting waste from homes and communal bins in local streets and town centres within the area of Lewes District Council.
The remaining municipal waste from homes in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove will arrive in specially designed articulated vehicles capable of carrying as much as 3 x the weight of a normal refuse vehicle therefore ensuring the number of vehicle movements travelling to Newhaven is kept to a minimum.