The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) has accepted Covanta Energy's application for a Development Consent Order to authorise a Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) at Rookery South Pit, near Stewartby in Bedfordshire.

This now allows the application to move forward to the 'pre-examination' and 'examination' phases of the IPC decision making process, during which the application will be scrutinised by interested parties, including the general public, and the Commission itself.

The RRF, if approved, will include an Energy from Waste (EfW) Facility and Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), as well as a visitors centre, on the site of a former clay extraction pit. The MRF will recover by-products from the EfW Facility for use in the construction industry.

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Managing Director of Covanta Energy, Malcolm Chilton, said: "I'm pleased that the Infrastructure Planning Commission has announced they have accepted the Covanta submission for a Resource Recovery Facility at Rookery South Pit. This is an important step forward in our proposals to build and operate a modern Energy from Waste Facility and Materials Recovery Facility on this site .

"The Rookery South RRF will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of 82,500 homes, which is the equivalent of Bedford and the Marston Vale, by turning 585,000 tonnes of waste every year into a fuel, as opposed to simply dumping this waste into landfill sites. A positive step forward for the environment and a sustainable way for generating power in the future."

(CD)