New Grundon Circular Technology Park in Sussex gets planning approval

West Sussex County Council’s Planning Committee has granted Grundon Waste Management planning permission for its new Circular Technology Park at Ford in West Sussex. The permission allows for the redevelopment of a brownfield 6.5 hectare site, formerly used as a block making plant, creating an industry-leading recycling and recovery facility.

Embracing the future of waste management, Grundon is an enthusiastic supporter of the waste hierarchy and is committed to the reuse and recovery of recyclable materials. The company also firmly believes that the future lies in using waste as a resource – whether that be through the recycling of goods or the recovery of energy through the generation of electricity or heat.

The new site at Ford will focus on technologies that will process up to 200,000 tonnes of materials per year. This will make a significant contribution towards West Sussex County Council’s commitment to ‘zero waste to landfill’. The diversion of waste resources from landfill will prevent the equivalent of 28,500 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane, being generated per annum – a figure which is comparable to the emissions of 13,000 cars being removed from the roads each year.

The new facility will include a Materials Recovery Facility, enabling 60,000 tonnes of materials such as paper, cardboard, glass and metals to be recycled; and an Advanced Thermal Treatment Facility, which will convert residual waste that cannot be recycled or recovered, into energy in the form of heat and electricity. This will generate clean, sustainable energy for 29,000 homes, as well as the potential to supply heat to neighbouring industrial properties.

Speaking after the planning permission was granted, Grundon’s deputy chairman Neil Grundon said: “We are delighted with the announcement that the development of Grundon’s new Circular Technology Park can now take place. We strongly believe that the new facility will champion the recycling and recovery technologies. Our society is in the process of going through a cultural shift, where we are moving away from being a throwaway society to one which embraces the notion of a circular economy, where all wastes are viewed as resources.

“Our new site at Ford will provide a facility that embraces these guiding principles and help West Sussex to ‘close the loop’ in the circle and achieve its target of zero waste to landfill by 2030.”

Andrew Short, estates director for Grundon added: “The Circular Technology Park will make good use of a brownfield industrial site and will create new jobs in the area, both during construction and operation.

“By giving consent at Ford, West Sussex Council has provided the opportunity for Grundon to develop a strategically important facility in the county, which will be able to meet the council’s ambition of zero to landfill. Importantly this will focus on the commercial and industrial markets, promoting recovery of usable materials as well as treatment of residuals to create energy. It also expands our operational area into new markets, enabling us to provide innovative waste management services to our existing and new clients.”