Recycling centre granted permission to operate 24 hours a day

Kieran Molloy, Local Democracy Reporter

A recycling centre has been given permission to operate around the clock, seven days a week, after planners approved extended opening hours to meet customer demand.

The facility on Seawall Road in Cardiff’s Tremorfa Industrial Estate will now be able to operate 24 hours a day, including Sundays and bank holidays, following approval for an application by Plan B Management Solutions Limited.

Planning documents read: “On the basis of our customer requirements, including local authorities, and need to process materials we are requesting a change of operation to allow the flexibility of 24-hour opening seven days a week including Sundays and bank holidays.”

Because of this the site is “therefore is set at a location experiencing and being subject to heavy industry, with industrial processes operating throughout the working day, and in historic cases into evening hours”.

In 2024 permission was granted by Cardiff Council to begin turning an existing warehouse on the site into a recycling facility, although with operations limited to between 7am and 9pm from Monday to Friday and 7am until 1pm on Saturdays with no working on Sundays or public holidays.

The application reads: “The site is being developed into a recycling plant and will service several local authorities which typically work seven days a week and require us to provide a tipping facility, this together with the need to process materials delivered requires us to be flexible with our delivery and processing times.”

The previous application allowed for 75,000 tonnes of material per year, which the applicant breaks down to 144 vehicle movements per week “allowing for arrival and departure”.

The applicant is not planning on increasing the amount of material processed at the plant despite the increased hours of operation.

Instead they are “looking to be able to space the working period available which is more practicable”.

Industrial uses

The planning officer’s report reads: “The application site is surrounded by other commercial and industrial uses. The nearest residential properties are around 150m away to the north along Muirton Road and Willows Avenue. Commercial and industrial uses lie within the intervening distance.”

“[Therefore] it is concluded that the proposed extended operating hours would not give rise to unacceptable noise impacts on nearby residential properties.”