Approval for £15m recycling plant

The council said the plant would use "clean technology" to recycle

A £15m waste recycling plant which could create 32 jobs has been given the go-ahead by Flintshire Council.

The centre, operated by Lancashire-based Orchid Environmental, will be based on part of the old Shotton steelworks site at Deeside.

It will use a heat treatment system to process up to 160,000 tonnes of domestic and commercial waste annually.

The council approved the plans after being told it would cut the amount of waste sent to landfill sites by 90%.

Using recycled waste, the plant will also produce 64,000 tonnes of fuel pellets each year, which could then be sold.

Planning officials said 24,000 tonnes of waste each year would go to landfill when the plant is operating at full output.

Until a few years ago, 180,000 tonnes was being dumped in two landfill sites at Buckley.

The council opposes plans for a new landfill site at Parry's Quarry

Currently, Flintshire has no landfill facilities and the council spends a reported £4m a year sending waste to Wrexham.

Approval for the new recycling plant was granted on Wednesday on the condition that the company agreed all waste would be taken to a landfill site outside Flintshire.

The council has opposed plans for a new landfill site at Parry's Quarry at Alltami, near Mold, claiming it did not represent the best means of managing waste.

Those plans are being discussed at a public inquiry which opened earlier this month.

The new plant will be housed in a large shed previously used for scrap metal, within the existing Corus Colours steel complex.

Planning officials said the development will "treat and manage waste in a manner which accords with government practice and represents a significant improvement on existing practice and sustainable waste management capacity."

Their report adds: "The development is a clean technology with few risks to the environment."