Binn EfW Frequently Asked Questions
What is EfW?
Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities transform residual waste into energy and/or heat by a combustion process. Residual waste – waste which cannot be reused or recycled and, unless treated at an EfW Facility, is normally disposed of at landfill, which sits at the bottom of the waste hierarchy.
This facility is a power station for the recovery of energy generated from non-hazardous mixed residual local authority collected wastes and mixed residual wastes of similar composition from commercial and industrial sources, including refuse derived fuel.
EfW technology exists to allow the safe, managed and strictly regulated thermal treatment of this type of waste to maximise its resource value by recovering its energy. Further information about EfW can be found on the SEPA website.
Transition from Landfilling of Wastes
Recently the Scottish Government’s Committee on Climate Change reinforced the importance of reducing our reliance on landfill. The Scottish Government remain fully committed to ending the practice of sending waste to landfill in order to contribute to climate change targets and ensuring Scotland’s waste is managed in a sustainable way.
The landfill ban which will come into effect in December 2025 will prohibit landfill operators from accepting Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) for disposal at landfill. The purpose of the ban is to:
• Reduce the amount of waste landfilled by directing residual waste to alternative treatment;
• Extract any remaining resource value from the residual waste stream; and
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions which result from landfilling biodegradable waste.
In order to comply with the ban, the most sustainable option is to send this waste to EfW facilities within Scotland.
The Binn EfW Facility will help to provide a local solution and will importantly contribute to the Scottish Government’s low carbon energy targets, recovering energy from residual waste. The land that will be used for the facility is part of the wider Binn EcoPark, which is designated for waste management uses in the adopted Perth and Kinross Local Development Plan 2, 2019.
What is biodegradable municipal waste (BMW)?
The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 includes a ban on biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) being sent to landfill in Scotland from end 2025.
BMW is best defined by reference to both its biodegradable and municipal components. Biodegradable waste is “any waste capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition such as food, garden waste, paper, and cardboard”. Municipal waste is defined as “waste from households as well as other waste which because of its nature or composition is similar to waste from households”. The landfill ban is part of the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Plan, which aims to achieve a nationwide recycling rate of 70 per cent by 2025, with only five per cent of remaining waste going to landfill. Energy from Waste facilities play a crucial role in achieving this target by recovering value from waste as energy. Further information about the Landfill Ban can be found on the SEPA website.
What is Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)?
Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is residual solid waste from domestic, industrial and commercial sources that has been subject to some form of pretreatment in order to prepare it as fuel. In Scotland most RDF arises from household and commercial waste management systems where waste producers have a kerbside collection system, enabling them to separate their recyclable waste from the nonrecyclable residual waste.
What are the key benefits of EfW?
Scotland’s waste strategy follows the waste hierarchy, which aims, as a priority order, to prevent waste, prepare waste materials for re-use, recycle waste, recover other value from waste (i.e. energy) and, as the last resort and where permitted, dispose of waste. Accordingly, in so far as residual waste is concerned, energy recovery via an EfW facility sits above landfill disposal in the waste hierarchy and is thus strongly preferable. Recovery via an EfW facility is preferred over disposal due to the higher levels of energy recovered and lower greenhouse gas emissions and due to it having other environmental benefits, such as the protection of water resources.
If effectively sized and located, EfW could ultimately contribute up to 31% of Scotland’s renewable heat
target and 4.3% of the renewable electricity target under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. The energy produced by EfW facilities replaces that generated by other fossil fuels such as gas and will help meet Scotland’s targets to increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable energy sources. This is a vital part of the response towards sustainable development and global climate change.
The Binn EfW facility follows the Binn Group’s philosophy of developing smaller scale decentralised facilities which provide primarily local services and economic opportunities. This facility will be one of the smaller in the UK, making it easier to utilise the waste heat produced, and reducing any environmental impacts associated with the plant such as transport and emissions.
What is the Binn EcoPark Complex?
Binn EcoPark, situated in central Scotland, is one of the most integrated resource recovery complexes in the UK. The Binn EcoPark is a next-generation site with an established and growing circular economy focus on waste management, renewable energy and low carbon eco-innovation.
The site boasts a range of on-site facilities including, two Material Reclamation Facilities (MRF), a 30,000 tonne per annum food waste anaerobic digestion facility, invessel and green-waste composting facilities, a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) facility and a waste wood processing and storage facility. A four-turbine 10MW wind power generation system and private grid are under construction which will offer customers at the site lower cost, low carbon energy.
Binn EcoPark will also be the site for a world first Advanced Plastics Sorting and Upcycling Facility (A-PSuF), which combines chemical and mechanical recycling systems with an advanced sorting facility supported by ZWS Scotland and the Tay Cities Deal. Working with other Tay City Deal partners this site will help stimulate a transition to a low carbon, clean technology and resource efficient industrial system in Tayside.
Planning Consent
The Binn EfW facility obtained planning consent in December 2020 (Ref: 20/01242/FLM) for a facility with waste tonnage throughput of 84,900 tpa.
The facility will be divided into the various process areas:
• Waste reception hall
• Waste bunker
• Boiler hall
• Substation
The main building will be 99.1 m long, vary in width from 27m to 50.9m, and vary in height to a maximum of 40m. The emissions stack (chimney) would be located adjacent to the southern elevation of the building and would be 70m in height. In addition to the main building there will also be:
• Air-cooled condenser
• The turbine enclosure
• Air emission abatement equipment
• Offices, a workshop, stores and staff welfare facilities.
To view details of the Planning Consent, go to the Perth & Kinross Council Planning webpage.
Project Delivery Partnership
The Binn EfW Facility will be developed through a partnership between Paprec Energies UK Ltd and Binn Group Limited. A new development company has been formed, Paprec Energies Binn Limited, to construct the new facility and manage ongoing operations.
Paprec Group is a leader in the waste management sector across Europe - managing 16 million tonnes per annum, generating £2.5billion turnover and employs 13,000 people.
What are the timescales for construction and operation?
The construction period for the EfW facility will take around 32 months, beginning in late 2023, with operations starting in early 2026 with a design life of approximately 40 years.
What outputs will the EfW produce?
This facility will generate approximately 8.0 MW of electricity per year; 87.5% of which will be exported to the local electricity distribution network - enough to power 14,677 homes. The remaining 12.5% will be used to power the EfW facility. The facility will also be capable of generating heat in the form of either steam or hot water for use by local businesses within the Binn EcoPark Complex or for nearby communities.
Energy will be generated on a 24-hour basis and this will replace energy generated by other fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, helping to meet Scotland’s targets for increasing the amount of energy generated from renewable sources.
As a result of the combustion process, two types of ash are produced:
• Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) is the non-combustible waste residue; 16,508 tonnes per annum (tpa) of IBA will be transported off site for reprocessing into a secondary aggregate for use in road construction.
• Air Pollution Control Residues (APCRs), also known as ‘fly ash’, are the residues of the refuse derived fuel that are left in the air pollution abatement equipment; 3108 tpa of APCR will be treated and disposed of off-site.
Community and Economic Benefits
How many new jobs will be created by the EfW facility?
200 jobs will be provided during the construction phase, and when the EfW is in operation it will create 20 new permanent full-time job opportunities within the plant itself and an estimated 10 jobs in the local supply chain
What economic benefits will the EfW facility bring?
The proposed EfW facility is an important capital investment in Perth & Kinross. During both the construction and operational phases it will bring about positive significant effects on the population and economy of the local area. The construction of the EfW facility represents a capital investment of approximately £100 million and will generate EVA economic value added) of approximately £14 million for Scotland as a whole. At the local level it is estimated this will create 30 jobs.
Once operational, it is expected the facility will generate EVA within the Perth & Kinross area of approximately £4.3 million at commencement of operations increasing to approx. £8.7M once all heat offtake projects are on stream.
Traffic and Transport
What types of transport will access the facility?
During the construction phase, a maximum of 30 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) will access the site per day. Construction will take place between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday, and 7am to 1pm Saturday.
Once the EfW is operational, waste will be transported by road to the EfW facility between the hours of 7am and 6pm, with the majority (91%) of all waste forecast as being delivered Monday to Friday. It is predicted that typically 70% of the waste will be transported by articulated HGVs, and 30% of the waste by smaller refuse collection vehicles (RCVs). On an average weekday, around 28 vehicles per day will travel to and from the EfW facility.
Lime and ammonia used to absorb pollutants during the waste combustion process will be transported to the EfW facility with 2 deliveries per week in a sealed HGV tanker.
The process residues (IBA and APCR ashes) will be transported away from the EfW facility using around 3 HGVs a day.
The total number of HGV movements associated with the EfW facility (33 HGVs in and out), as now proposed, is comparable with the HGV numbers associated with the EfW facility and
How will traffic associated with the EfW be managed?
The EfW facility will not result in a significant impact on operational or environmental conditions over the local transport network during construction or operation. Access to the EfW facility will be by the existing Binn EcoPark Complex private road which links to the A912. A new section of access road approximately 130m in length will be built from the private road to the EfW facility.
Effect on driver delay during both the construction and operational phases will be negligible as there is no evidence of congestion at the A912/ Binn EcoPark Complex private road junction during the week day morning and early evening peak hours.
A Traffic Management Plan as part of the Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) will be produced for the construction phase to ensure that suitable mitigation measures are put in place to manage any adverse effects of construction.
A Travel Plan which encourages sustainable modes of transport including car sharing could also be produced.
Have you considered other ways the facility may have an effect on the local road network?
Yes, the following potential impacts have been considered.
Dust and Dirt: problems with dust and dirt are unlikely to occur at distances greater than 50m from the main road (A912). The Site access road is hard surfaced and is 130m long and so dust and dirt transported from the Site onto the road is not expected and therefore the effects of dust were not considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment.
Visual Effects: the Binn EcoPark Complex is not regarded as an area of scenic beauty, historic or conservation area. Therefore, in accordance with the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) guidelines, the changes in traffic resulting from the Proposed Development would have negligible visual effects and there is no requirement for an assessment in this regard.
Pedestrian Delay: Both the private road and the A912 do not have footpaths and so the number of people who use these roads on foot is expected to be very low. In simple terms, if there are no pedestrians then there will not be any pedestrian delay. On this basis the effects of the Proposed Development in terms of pedestrian delay are not considered.
Severance: The private road does not serve any properties and the A912 has only a few developments located sporadically, the closest being the Bein Inn public house and adjacent residential properties. As set out above, the number of people who use these roads on foot is expected to be very low. On this basis, the effects of the Proposed Development in terms of severance are not considered.
Accidents and Safety: Considering the above, there is no evidence that the local road network suffers from an existing road safety issue that could be worsened by the marginal increase in trips that the Proposed Development would generate. On this basis, the effects of the Proposed Development in terms of accidents and safety are not considered in this chapter.
Biodiversity and Ecology
What benefits will the EfW facility bring to the biodiversity and ecology of the area?
Binn EcoPark has a Master Plan which identifies areas of the site which provide opportunities for the enhancement and improvement of biodiversity and habitats. The area of land the EfW would occupy is primarily rough grazing and rotational farmland of low ecological importance and biodiversity value making it suitable for environmental improvement measures. Ecological mitigation measures should include small scale wetland creation to provide new habitats for amphibians and birds, planting trees and shrubs to help screen the facility and provide a further wildlife resource, and the creation of wildlife corridors to link the development to existing woodland, forest and other semi-natural habitats. The proposed EfW facility is predicted to have a low to negligible impact on ecology. In addition it is the intention of the owners of the Binn EcoPark to develop and implement a detailed and extensive Biodiversity Action Plan to create an asset of significant biodiversity value for both local communities and for wider environmental benefit.
Noise
Will noise levels change during construction and operation of the EfW?
We will take measures to control noise generation during the construction phase in a number of ways. These may include restriction on operating hours, sensible routing of equipment to site, and careful choice of piling rigs. These would all be defined within the Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP). During construction and under worst case conditions, the noise related environmental effects will be neutral.
During the operation phase a range of mitigation measures will be required to ensure the proposed EfW facility complies with the relevant noise standards, guidance and agreed permissible noise limits. During operation of the facility, noise and vibration related environmental effects will be negligible to slight. Further information on noise standards, guidance and agreed permissible noise limits can be found on SEPA’s Energy from Waste FAQ page.
Air Quality, Human Health and Odour
Will there be an effect on air quality, human health and odour?
The proposed EfW facility is not predicted to give rise to significant environmental effects on air quality, human health and odour. The main air quality effect would be as a result of emissions from the proposed EfW stack (chimney). We have undertaken detailed dispersion modelling of emissions as required by SEPA and the effect of emissions on human health and ecological receptors is predicted to be ‘not significant’.
As with all EfW facilities, there is the potential to cause impacts associated with the release of dust and odour. Analysis has been undertaken, which takes into account the control measures in place and the distance to the nearest ecological and human receptors. This has concluded that the impact of the operation of the proposed EfW facility would be ‘not significant’.
A qualitative assessment of potential cumulative effects has been undertaken and this has concluded that there is no risk of significant cumulative effects.
Carbon Will there be any carbon benefits associated with the EfW facility?
Binn EcoPark is a leader in the development of low-carbon resource recovery processes in the UK, with decarbonisation of the electricity grid a key aim of the EcoPark development. A renewable energy generation policy is being realised and already ~2MW of diesel fuel generation capacity has been removed with the associated reductions in particulates and other emissions including carbon dioxide realised.
EfW is a low-carbon form of energy production and therefore the proposed EfW facility is predicted to lead to a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to power generation from a conventional gas fired power station and residual waste disposal via landfill (even with landfill gas power generation). Accordingly, the EfW facility will further contribute to the decarbonisation of the resource management activities at the Binn EcoPark.
A detailed carbon assessment was undertaken which assessed the relative carbon impact of treating waste and generating electricity in the proposed EfW facility compared to generating electricity from gas and disposing of the waste in landfill. This involved carrying out an assessment for two different waste compositions to reflect the potential variation in the energy content of the waste, referred to as its net calorific value (NCV) - for a low NCV waste case (9MJ/kg) and a high NCV waste case (11MJ/kg).
In the low NCV case the EfW facility is predicted to lead to a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of ~8,903 tonnes of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) per annum compared to gas fired electricity generation and landfill disposal.
In the high NCV case the EfW facility is predicted to lead to a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of ~6,111 tonnes of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) per annum compared to gas fired electricity generation and landfill disposal.
In addition to the existing 3 x 1MW landfill gas stations, two Material Reclamation Facilities (MRFs), an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility, composting facilities, a residual waste Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) facility and a waste wood processing and storage facility, the wider development of the site also includes the construction of four wind turbines. This proposed windfarm has the potential to offset approximately 348 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per annum currently generated from the operation of diesel generators on-site.
Decarbonisation of the electricity grid is a key aim of the EcoPark development and the wind turbines and the proposed EfW facility will support the development of the Binn EcoPark through provision of a private low carbon grid, whilst supporting Scotland’s wider transition to a low carbon energy system.
Full details of this assessment can be viewed in the Fichtner Carbon Assessment Report
Further information on emissions and air quality can be found on SEPA’s Energy from Waste FAQ page
Glossary
RCV: Refuse Collection Vehicle
HGV: Heavy Goods Vehicle
RDF: Refuse Derived Fuel
IBA: Incinerator Bottom Ash
APCR: Air Pollution Control Residues
EVA: Economic Value Added - the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy.
IEMA: Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment
Ecological Receptors: any living organisms other than humans, the habitat which supports such organisms, or natural resources which could be adversely affected by environmental contaminations resulting by a release at or migration from a site.
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