Tyre incinerator plans turned down

A permit for a planned tyre incineration plant which nearly 1,000 people opposed, is to be turned down.

A company called Tyregen UK Ltd wanted to process around 7,650 tonnes of waste tyres per year at Westfield Industrial Estate, Waunarlwydd, Swansea.

Tyregen UK said its tyre incineration method, called pyrolysis, would separate the oil and black powder which went into their manufacture.

The powder would then be used by tyre companies in new tyres. Some of the gas captured as part of the process would be reused at the plant with the remainder treated before being released into the atmosphere via a chimney stack.

Environmental permit

Planning permission is in place to process waste tyres and plastics at the site, but Tyregen UK needed an environmental permit.

A total of 975 people objected to the permit application – there was one letter in support – and Swansea Council has now published a draft decision turning down the application.

Waunarlwydd councillor Wendy Lewis, who was one of the objectors, said she’d had lots of messages and was very grateful about the decision, which is subject to consultation until August 25. “It is a great relief,” she said.

Gowerton councillor Dai Jenkins, who lives in Waunarlwydd, was also against the permit plan. His objection said: “I realise this incinerator would be managed correctly, however, accidents happen, and if that was the case smoke would be all over Waunarlwydd and Gowerton, so on behalf of my ward residents I object to the granting of a licence.”

Reacting to the draft refusal, Cllr Jenkins said he’d always believed the location of the proposed facility was wrong. “I don’t know anyone in the village who is for it,” he said.

‘Insufficient technical competence’

The council’s decision said the refusal was on basis of what it felt was “insufficient technical competence” and “inadequate environmental management systems”. The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted Tyregen UK for comment.

The company has previously said that the proposed 30m by 8m facility would be enclosed within a larger industrial building except for the chimney stack. Speaking last September a Tyregen UK spokesman said: “The operation is fundamentally about recycling, and therefore preserving the valuable components of a used tyre, so we absolutely won’t be burning any tyres.”

The council’s decision will be final within five working days of August 25 if no consultation representations are received, and 15 days or longer if representations are received. Tyregen UK can appeal to the Welsh Government planning environment and decisions Wales (PEDW) body.

It has been estimated that around 50 million waste tyres need recycling every year in the UK, and many are exported overseas.