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16
Oct 2024
Allerton Park incinerator continues to miss recycling target
A waste incinerator plant near Knaresborough continues to miss its recycling targets, according to a council report.
Allerton Park Waste Recovery Park, which is based off the A1(M) and cost £1.2 billion to build, aims to divert 320,000 tonnes of waste a year away from landfill.
However, according to a report due before North Yorkshire councillors tomorrow, the plant missed its recycling target for last year.
The report says that last year Allerton Park recycled 1.78% of waste against a contractual requirement of 5%.
The target, which is set by North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council, has never been met.
In 2021, the Stray Ferret reported concerns from local councillors over the failure of the plant to meet its recycling aims.
As a result of missing the targets, the councils levied the then operator of the plant, AmeyCespa, with a total of £653,000 in performance deductions for the first three years of the operation alone.
An officer's report put the latest failure to meet recycling targets down to "less tonnage throughput" at the mechanical treatment plant.
It said:
Recycling performance for 2023-24 was 1.78% against a contractual target of 5% which was a reduction of 0.24% when compared to the prior year. The main reasons for the reduction in performance were linked to less tonnage throughput in the mechanical treatment plant and continued difficulties placing plastics into recycling markets.
However, the report added that the plant diverted 94.86% of waste away from landfill last year.
Councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee will discuss the performance at a meeting tomorrow.
Burning waste dirtiest form of UK energy
The figures come as new research by the BBC has found that burning household waste to produce electricity is now the dirtiest way the UK generates power.
It found that burning waste produces the same amount of greenhouse gases for each unit of energy as coal power, which was abandoned by the UK last month.
The BBC found that the number of waste-to-energy incinerators in the UK has increased from 38 to 52 in the last five years.
The research will bring heightened focus on the Allerton Park plant site, particularly as it continues to miss its recycling targets.
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