Residents have just two weeks left to comment on plans by Clearaway Recycling to build a waste plant for industrial waste on land at Archers Field Close, on the Burnt Mills Estate. 

Clearaway already operates a recycling plant at the industrial estate, however the new facility would be used to dispose of waste from businesses across Essex. 
Craig Rimmer, councillor for Pitsea South East where the plant will be located, says he is “definitely” against it.

He said: “We’ve had enough rubbish from the rest of the county, we don’t need any more coming in.

“Residents are concerned about air contamination. The plant is too close to a residential area. It shouldn’t go there. It’s a bad idea in a bad location.

“The company behind it has done a lot of good things in the past but this is a convenient location for them as they own the site. It’s not convenient for residents, who it will affect severely.”

Clearaway Recycling Limited is keen to distance itself from the £800million Tovi Eco Park waste plant which is currently being demolished after it failed to successfully process black bag waste. 

Leading the project, Paul Whitehair, director of Clearaway, said: “It’s really important that we put clear blue water between our project and the Tovi Eco Park. Our project is a private, commercial enterprise to deal predominantly with waste from local businesses and skip hire companies.

Business waste makes up two-thirds of all waste arising in Essex, so it’s critical that there is infrastructure which supports high recycling and low carbon disposal.”

As waste will be recycled at an existing on-site recycling facility, Mr Whitehair says there will be no increase in truck movements. Any remaining waste is set to be treated “to generate sustainable heat and power for use locally”.

He added: “As a well-established family business, it’s so important we have a trusted reputation with the community. We are proposing to make this significant investment to vastly improve the way local waste can be treated.

“The waste industry is extremely tightly controlled by national laws and the Environment Agency.”

Residents must submit responses to Essex County Council by January 23.