Hightown quarry site proposed for £240m waste facility 12 March 2013
A new plan to deal with waste from 11 council areas in Northern Ireland could see an incinerator and waste facility built near Mallusk in County Antrim.
Arc21 said it intended to develop the “energy from waste” facility at the Hightown quarry on the Boghill Rd.
If planning is approved, the £240m investment would be one of the biggest, single infrastructure schemes ever undertaken in Northern Ireland.
The plant could create 340 jobs and generate enough power for 30,000 homes.
Public consultation
The planned waste development will also include an adjoining “mechanical biological treatment” plant.
It will sort recyclable material and then treat the remaining waste to make it more combustible.
A public consultation on the waste facility plan is due to begin shortly.
Those behind the proposed plant it said it would help Northern Ireland to meet EU targets on landfill diversion and avoid hefty fines.
Arc21 is an umbrella group for waste management by 11 councils in the east of Northern Ireland.
‘Centrally located’
It has commissioned the Becon Consortium to develop the waste facilities at Hightown Quarry on its behalf, pending the “completion of a competitive procurement process”.
The consortium is backed by E.ON Energy from Waste AG, a European company that currently operates 19 waste plants in Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
In a statement, the developers said the Hightown Quarry was “considered the best location for the new facilities as it is centrally located in the Arc21 area, and has good connections to the primary road network as well as the national electricity grid”.
“Importantly, this active industrial quarry site is of sufficient size and scale to absorb the scheme and lends itself well to visual screening and noise shielding,” the statement added.
The project direct, Ian Smith from Becon Consortium, said: “This is a very exciting project which will see Northern Ireland catch up with the rest of Europe in ensuring we view waste as a valuable resource.
“Not only will it address the European imperative to divert our waste from landfill, but this project will ensure we extract the maximum value from the remaining non-recyclable black bin waste to generate much needed renewable and sustainable energy.”
