One of the UK’s leading energy-from-waste providers, Encyclis, alongside leading sustainable waste management company Biffa, is seeking to deliver a new Carbon Capture Facility on land at the Protos Resource Recovery Park in Cheshire.
They welcome public feedback on their proposals prior to moving forward with their plans.
The new Carbon Capture Facility will play a key role in decarbonising the waste sector, by capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) gases from Encyclis’ Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) once this is fully constructed and operational – preventing these from being released into the atmosphere.
The captured CO₂ will be transferred from the Carbon Capture Facility into the HyNet CO₂ Pipeline, whereby it will be transported for long term geologically secure storage in depleted undersea gas fields in Liverpool Bay.
This website provides details further information about the project programme, including our plans for community consultation and how local residents can provide feedback. It will also be updated as the project proceeds.
Background
We face a climate emergency and decarbonising the waste sector is widely recognised as a key element of the UK’s required effort to address climate change and transition to net zero.
To try to limit the effects of climate change, the UK government has set targets for decarbonising our power system by 2035, while maintaining security of supply.
Encyclis and Biffa have therefore made significant commitments to help build the circular economy and to tackle climate change. Building this Carbon Capture Facility fits within this ambition.
The link to Hynet and Government
HyNet is one of the UK’s leading industrial decarbonisation projects aiming to unlock a low carbon future across the North West of England and North Wales – creating new employment opportunities, safeguarding existing jobs, growing a skills base and attracting investment into the region.
HyNet is made up of several different elements, which includes Carbon Capture technology. This will remove CO₂ emissions directly from energy-intensive industries, and from hydrogen production, safely transporting it via an underground pipeline and storing these emissions in depleted oil and gas reservoirs under the seabed in Liverpool Bay. Hynet will reduce the amount of CO₂ emitted across the region by a quarter, starting in the mid-2020s. Our proposed Carbon Capture Facility will connect into the HyNet CO₂ pipeline.
The development of both HyNet and our proposed facility was critical in Government earlier this year selecting HyNet as a Track 1 Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) cluster to support decarbonisation, backed by a £1billion infrastructure fund.
The Government has stressed that it views CCUS as ‘a key technology to enable decarbonisation of UK industry, and that it will help protect and create new jobs, putting the UK and the clusters at the forefront of the global CCUS market.’ Our proposed Carbon Capture Facility puts Cheshire West & Chester at the centre of developing this innovative technology to support the UK getting to net zero by 2050.
The site
The proposed new Carbon Capture Facility will be developed on land at Protos Resource Recovery Park (Protos RRP). Protos RRP is a 130-hectare site, developed as a major resource recovery hub comprising various plots for use in connection with the recycling, recovery and reprocessing of waste materials. The consented development at Protos RRP includes the construction of the Protos Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) , a 49.9MW energy from waste facility, and the creation and long-term management of five Ecological Management Areas. The Protos ERF is currently under construction and is intended to become commercially operational in 2024.
The proposed Carbon Capture Facility will be located on land within Protos RRP, southeast of the Protos ERF and to the north of Marsh Lane, on land which was previously intended for the delivery of Ecological Management Area E (which will be relocated).
About Encyclis
Encyclis is a leader in the safe recovery of energy from waste, rooted in more than 40 years of expertise and operating highly efficient thermal recycling facilities in the UK and Ireland.
The company is comprised of sector specialists, using world-leading techniques and technologies to deliver energy-from-waste in the most efficient, safe and sustainable way. Encyclis are aiming to making all operating processes 100% sustainable by 2030, which would result in diverting over 3 million tonnes of potentially polluting residual waste away from landfills.
Together with their partners, suppliers and local communities, Encyclis strive to set new standards of safety and sustainability, recovering more than energy from waste in support of local and national net zero ambitions.
About Biffa
Biffa is a sustainable leader in the UK’s waste and recycling industry. Founded in London in 1912, the company employs over 10,000 people and collects waste from thousands of businesses and millions of households across the UK each day. By growing its collection business, building on its plastic recycling capacity, and investing in energy from waste (including Anaerobic Digestion) Biffa is on a mission to enable the UK Circular Economy by changing the way businesses and people think about waste.
Biffa’s surplus food redistribution partnership with Company Shop Group, and its environmental work with BiffaAward and Waste Aid, also have wider benefits for the UK and beyond. Since 2002 the business has reduced carbon emissions by 70 per cent and aims to be net zero by 2050.