Boost for SITA’s waste bid
SITA UK's plans to develop a waste transfer rail station at Knowsley Industrial Park in Kirkby have been approved by councillors.
The proposed facility forms part of SITA UK's bid to secure Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority's resource recovery contract and will only go ahead if SITA UK is successful. SITA UK is on a shortlist of two companies, along with Covanta, aiming to secure the contract with the successful party expected to be named by the MRWA in 2012.
The proposed facility would create 25 new jobs and enable up to 500,000 tonnes of residual waste, left after recycling, per year to be bulked up and transported by rail to an energy-from-waste facility in Teesside.
Corrina Scott-Roy, planning manager at SITA UK, said: "Our proposal would utilise an existing rail transfer facility and with some minor alterations provide an efficient and sustainable method of transporting waste to an energy-from-waste plant which would generate heat and electricity in Teesside."
Scott-Roy added: "If we secure the contract, we have also committed to provide a local community fund specifically for this development. The details of this have yet to be finalised but we are anticipating that the sum available for local community projects would be in the region of £50,000 a year. We would also set up a community liaison group, so we can keep people up to date throughout the development and operation of the new facility."
