Plans for a plastics recycling and energy recovery plant in Worksop are being recommended for approval despite hundreds of objections and a community petition containing 1,230 names.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Planning and Rights of Way Committee will consider Envale UK Limited’s application for the former Nottinghamshire Recycling site on Shireoaks Road on 3 November.
Planning officers recommend granting permission subject to conditions and a legal agreement. No decision has yet been made.
The development would combine a plastic chemical recycling facility, an energy recovery plant and a materials sorting area. Two main buildings would be connected by an enclosed conveyor, with two flues reaching 30 metres above ground level.
The site shares an access road with the neighbouring Worksop Household Waste Recycling Centre, which is a separate facility operated by Veolia on behalf of the county council.
The proposed plastics plant would use pyrolysis, a process in which plastic is heated to around 500°C without oxygen, breaking it down into gases and liquids which are then purified.
According to the application, the aim is to produce material for making new plastics rather than fuel. The plant would process up to 20,000 tonnes of plastic a year, producing approximately 14,000 tonnes of petrochemical feedstock.
The energy recovery facility would process up to 24,369 tonnes of residual, non-recyclable waste annually to generate heat and electricity. Energy could be used by the plastics plant, with surplus electricity exported to the grid. Other recyclable materials recovered during sorting would be sent elsewhere for processing.
Operations inside the buildings would run around the clock. Proposed conditions would restrict lorries entering and leaving the site to between 7am and 6pm from Monday to Saturday, and between 8am and 6pm on Sundays and bank holidays.
There would be a maximum of 50 daily lorry movements, comprising 25 arrivals and 25 departures. Drivers would be required to use the route towards the Sandy Lane/Vesuvius roundabout and the A57.
The development is expected to employ 12 full-time and 18 part-time staff working shifts.
The report records 787 objection letters in response to the original application, followed by further objections during subsequent consultation rounds. A community petition containing 1,230 residents’ names was also submitted.
Concerns include air pollution, health, noise, odour, traffic, fire safety and the suitability of the location. The nearest residential gardens, on Robertson Grove, are approximately six metres from the application site boundary at the closest point.
Bassetlaw District Council formally objected in August 2024, arguing that emissions, odour and noise would have unacceptable effects on nearby residents and businesses. It also raised concerns about contamination and the suitability of the land for the proposed use.
Rhodesia Parish Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have also objected, alongside the Shireoaks and Rhodesia Against Plastic Pyrolysis campaign group.
However, the Environment Agency and the county council’s highways officers have raised no objection subject to conditions.
County planning officers conclude that the proposal would bring benefits through recovering materials from waste and bringing previously developed land back into use. They consider the anticipated effects on traffic, noise and neighbouring properties acceptable with controls in place.
Proposed conditions would prohibit outdoor waste processing and storage, require loading and unloading inside the buildings, and keep roller shutter doors closed except during deliveries, collections or emergencies.
Noise limits would apply at nearby properties, with a monitoring survey required within two months of operations starting. Separate environmental permitting would also be required, with emissions subject to regulatory controls.
The site has a lengthy industrial and waste management history. It was previously used for coal products manufacturing and as a brickworks before permission was granted for a waste transfer and recycling facility in 2006.
That permission remains in place and allowed up to 200 vehicle movements a day. Although the current site is not operational, officers have taken that existing permission into account when assessing the proposed traffic levels.
Enforcement action in 2013 required the removal of externally stored non-inert waste and changes to the site layout. Fires followed, including a major blaze which destroyed buildings and equipment, and the operator, NRL, entered administration in early 2014.
The administrators sold the site in 2015 to a company belonging to the Associated Waste Group. The report says approximately 60 per cent of the waste has since been removed, including material more susceptible to catching fire, with work continuing to process what remains.
A greenhouse gas assessment concludes that the proposed development would have a “minor adverse” climate impact over a 20-year assessment period. A specialist consultant appointed on behalf of the planning authority agrees with that conclusion.
Space would be reserved for possible future carbon capture equipment, but officers give this limited weight because of uncertainties over its delivery. They also say there is no guarantee that nearby businesses would use surplus heat from the plant.
If councillors support the recommendation, a legal agreement would secure payment of a biodiversity net gain monitoring fee before planning permission is issued.
The recommended deadline for completing that agreement is 3 February 2027, unless an extension is agreed. Officers would be authorised to refuse permission if the agreement is not completed within the required period.
