Peel unveils plans for £500m ‘eco-park’

PEEL Environmental has formed a joint venture with global giant Covanta Energy to build a £500m ‘eco-park’ in the North West creating more than 1,000 jobs.

The Manchester-headquartered business intends to work with Covanta to create Britain’s biggest industrial waste recycling, reprocessing and energy recovery site adjacent to the Stanlow Oil Refinery in Cheshire.

The agreement will see Covanta Energy – the world’s biggest operator of energy-from-waste facilities design, build, own and operate the equipment which will be run by Ince Park LLP.

This state-of-the-art facility will turn household and business waste, which cannot be sensibly recycled, into heat and up to 95 MW of electricity which is sufficient to power 150,000 homes.

Much of this energy can be redeployed on the eco-park to increase the viability of recycling and reprocessing goods and materials to avoid them being sent to landfill.

Construction of the facility is expected to begin in 2011.

Peel Environmental and Covanta will jointly market the remainder of the 126 acre site to organisations 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 M56 motorway.

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 energy-from-waste 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.”

Owen Michaelson, chairman of Peel Environmental, said: “We need to make more careful use of the earth’s resources.

“I believe we should make efficient use of the waste that remains after recycling and maximise our use of renewable resources.

“This will enable us to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. We must use our precious mineral resources in a responsible manner and only as part of a balanced energy policy.”

Covanta’s UK managing director, Malcolm Chilton, 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.”

Scott Whitney, Covanta’s European president, added: “By combining the strengths of Peel Environmental and Covanta Energy we will provide an environmentally beneficial and economical method for dealing with residual waste.

“The synergies are fantastic and I am optimistic we will find other similar projects to work on together.”