Frequently Asked Questions

Will there be dust and odours?

Dealing with waste in uncontrolled conditions can be a smelly process. Any waste management operations can give rise to dust and odours but these will be minimised by good building design, performing all operations under controlled conditions indoors, good working practices and effective management undertaken for dust suppression from vehicle movements.

The main Fuel Preparation Area and the Biomax facility will be under a slight negative air pressure inside. This means that if a door is open then air will be drawn into the building so there will be no escape of odours. The air that is drawn in will have to be let out but this will be done through filtration using standard tried and tested industrial filter systems to remove all smells.

It is important to point out that ALL processes take place INSIDE specially designed buildings.

What will it look like?

Follow the link to 'Site at Hirwaun' for the architectural drawings and artists impressions. However, the site has been acquired from the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).  This acquisition has come with a strict set of conditions which dictate the type of buildings and processes built on the site. The specification required of the buildings is far higher than those that would normally be associated with this type of process.

We are also very aware that we lie on the border of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The layout of the buildings and subsequent landscaping have not only been carefully designed to minimise the visual impact but also to make a clear statement about the aspirations and goals of Enviroparks. The materials employed will be of high specification and sympathetic to the environment. 

This site will be a reference plant for all future plants and as such we want to impress!

What about noise?

Noise is an issue that will be controlled under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR). The main contributors to noise associated with Enviroparks are likely to be:

  • vehicle movements/manoeuvring;
  • traffic noise on the local road networks;
  • mechanical processing such as waste preparation;
  • air extraction fans and ventilation systems;
  • steam turbine units; and
  • air cooled condenser units

Noise levels will be assessed as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the EPR.

Enviroparks will be legally obliged to operate within agreed set limits.


The processes will emit noise typically associated with any light industrial process on an industrial estate.

What about Traffic?

Recycling facilities may be served by large numbers of HGVs (depending on the scale of the facility) with a potential impact on local roads and the amenity of local residents. The site layout/road configuration will be designed to be suitable to accept a range of light and heavy vehicles. For a 50,000tpa capacity plant, up to 20 refuse collection vehicles (RCV) per day would be anticipated (Source: Defra), . At maximum capacity, therefore, you could see up to 100 traffic movements onto the site in a 12 hour period (one movement every 7 minutes) however a significant amount of delivery vehicles used will be larger than a normal RCV therby reducing further the traffic movements. To put this in perspective you could see up to 100 additional movements per day caused by staff driving to work. 

This, however, is all speculative, as a full traffic survey is being carried out as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment. The results are expected to show that the traffic impact will not be significant. There are three factors that suggest this; Firstly the reduction in traffic related to the closure of Tower Colliery mitigates the increased traffic movements; Secondly the site is well placed next to major roads and there is no requirement for any vehicles to pass through any of the local villages; Thirdly, the large majority of these traffic movements are already occuring throughout the local region. We will be seeing a small diversion of traffic as opposed to completely new traffic.

The result of the traffic survey will be available to the general public when it is completed.

 

What about emissions?

There are three types of emissions to be considered - to air, land and water. Every industrial site (and for that matter domestic as well) will have some form of emissions. The key factor is that all emissions off our site will have to comply with the limits set by the Environmental Permitting Regulations which will be monitored by the Environment Agency.

In reality the main emission off the site will be exhaust gasses from lorry, car and generating engines. There will be no emissions to land and the drainage system for the whole site is connected to an effluent treatment plant before discharge into a standard industrial trade sewer.

You will have noticed from the artists impressions that there is no tall chimney stack on site. There are two small exhaust stacks (16.5 metres tall) through which the engine exhaust gases produced in the engine house are released. This exhaust gas is significantly cleaner than that which comes from the exhaust of your car. This is because we scrub the gas before it enters into the gas engines. There are no direct emissions from the Plasma process or the Anaerobic Digestors as they are both sealed units.

The entire site will be licensed under the Environmental Permitting Regulations which sets out the very strict standards for the operating parameters of the processes.

In reality the only emissions will be from the exhaust pipes of the engines which will be constantly monitored.

Is the proximity to the Reservoir an issue?

There are two matters to consider:

What would happen if the reservoir has a significant leak? 

Pell Frischmann, as our consulting engineers, will advise us of any precautions we need to take and will carry out appropriate risk assessments in conjunction with Welsh Water.

Will the proximity of the plant affect the water quality of the reservoir?

No, however the responsibility for the reservoir lies with Welsh Water who are Statutory Consultees. If you have any queries you should contact them.

Will there be a big gas storage tank?

No. Gas is used pretty well as soon as it is produced by the system and there is no need to store gas on site other than  in small buffer tanks to ensure the engines have an uninterupted supply of fuel.

Why here?

It is an industrial estate designated by WAG for this type of business. The site is close to an electricity grid connection, has good logistics and is reasonably out of the way so traffic disturbance is minimal.

Why not the old Tower Colliery?

When we started looking for a location the colliery was still operational and the land needed considerable remediation that required removing slag and other unwanted material. 

We also wanted to have a “greener” site.

Won't it be the Dumping Ground for other Regions?

Enviroparks Hirwaun is only capable of processing 5% of the waste that arises in the region of South East Wales - our region.


It is designed to be a flagship facility operating to the highest standards and will not resemble a 'dumping ground'.

What are the benefits?

Local long term employment – around primarily 100 skilled jobs for the Enviropark with an estimated further 100 jobs from an occupier on the North part of the site.

Money going into the local economy.

A facility to be proud of as a showcase with educational facilities for school parties and other interested groups in our administration and site control offices.

Is it tried and tested technology?

All the technology is operating successfully somewhere else. The unique part of the Enviropark is bringing them all together to work together.