The proposal submitted by Veolia Environmental Services includes the construction in East Leeds Cross Green Industrial Area of an advanced waste recycling and energy recovery facility that will contribute to the local economy with the creation of 300 jobs during construction and 45 permanent positions.
The mechanical pretreatment will extract and recycle at the front-end of the plant around 10% of the 183,000 metric tons of residual waste delivered to the site. This will include recyclable non-ferrous and ferrous metals, plastics, mixed paper and cardboard providing a beneficial boost to the city's recycling rates.
The energy recovery facility will generate around 11.6 MW of electricity for the national electricity network, sufficient to power 20,000 homes from the remaining residual waste.
Working with Leeds City Council, it is also proposed to explore the development of a cogeneration plant with the potential to supply heat to local users.
Close to excellent transport links, this facility and its eye-catching design will blend with its surrounding environment, especially its living green wall, landscaping and planting designed to enhance the surrounding area.
An extensive consultation and community engagement process will be undertaken ahead of the planning application submission in the first half of 2012. It is intended to start construction in summer 2013; the recycling and energy recovery facility is scheduled to become fully operational in spring 2016.