Envar Facility Community Briefing Page
Overview
Welcome to the Envar facility community briefing page.
As the primary regulator of Envar composting facility, we publish this page to share information about the site, potential changes, and to outline some of our activities to keep the public informed. We aim to provide an update when we have new information regarding operations on site, or regarding applications to amend the permitted activities.
Our Objective
We are responsible for granting or refusing environmental permits, setting the conditions, and making sure that permit holders comply with them.
For existing activities that already hold an Environmental Permit we carry out periodic audits and inspections to check that the operators are complying with their permit conditions. If a breach of permit conditions is identified, we will investigate and take appropriate enforcement action; this action can range from advice and guidance through to prosecution for serious offences.
The Site
Envar Composting Facility, operated by Envar Composting Limited, is located in Woodhurst, Cambridgeshire centred on National Grid Reference TL 3361 75401.
Envar Composting has been operational since 2003 and currently have a permitted waste treatment and transfer operation for the manual sorting, shredding, bulking, and screening of up to 200,000 tonnes of waste per annum. Environmental Permit reference GP3930DF allows for the external processing of green waste and external windrow composting, recovery and disposal of non-hazardous waste, and drying of waste using biomass boilers to produce a quality PAS100 soil improver/ compost, and a compost like output (CLO).
Map above: indicating site location.
Current Situation (updated 4/11/24)
We have not received an application for a clinical waste incinerator permit at this time, and we are not expecting to see one until sometime 2025.
A separate application has been submitted to our permitting support centre to regularise some existing activities on site, and to broaden the variety of biological feedstock accepted for the existing activities. These changes are not expected to have any material effect on what the site is currently permitted to do.
Our Role – Clinical waste incinerator
Should Envar apply for an Environmental Permit for the proposed clinical waste incinerator, our role is to determine whether to grant an Environmental Permit for this facility, and if we do, to regulate the activities detailed within that permit.
We will only issue a permit if we believe that harm to the environment, people, and wildlife will be minimised and that the operator can meet the conditions of the permit. Providing a business can prove that the proposed activities meet all the legal requirements, including environmental, technological and health requirements, then we are legally obliged to issue a permit, even if some people do not approve of the decision.
In determining whether to issue a permit we will take account of relevant environmental regulatory requirements and technical standards, information on local population and sensitive sites and the impact of noise and odour from traffic on site.
We are unable to take account of anything outside the remit of the Environmental Permitting Regulations, e.g. the proposed location of the site, which is done by the local authority via land use planning, and the impact of noise and odour from traffic travelling to and from the site.
Given the high levels of public interest surrounding the proposed clinical waste incinerator the application will be designated as high public interest, and we will consult with the public. We want to make the best decision when permitting. Listening to the views of others helps us to take account of concerns, or local environmental factors, that we may not be otherwise aware of.
We will take your consultation responses into consideration as part of our determination of the permit. If we decide to grant the permit we will explain how we made our decision and how we have addressed the concerns that were raised.
If a permit is issued for this activity, the Environment Agency will be responsible for assessing ongoing compliance with the conditions set within it. The permit will include conditions relating to management of the site, monitoring requirements and will set limits to control the level of pollutants that can be released to air, land or water.
Our Role – existing permitted activities
In relation to the already permitted activities at this site our role as an environmental regulator is to work with people and businesses. We provide advice and guidance and help them do the right thing for people and the environment. Where there’s a threat to people or the environment that can’t be resolved, we can use our enforcement powers, which can include prosecution.
How do we regulate?
Our compliance assessment work is planned annually and includes a range of activities including inspection, audit and data review. Every assessment has a reason and links to the environmental and public protection outcomes we are seeking to deliver. Reasons include:
- To check permit conditions are being met
- To audit the results of monitoring submitted by the operator
- To respond to incidents and complaints
- To carry out investigations
- To provide advice and guidance
- To check progress against an agreed improvement programme or action plan
Findings from all inspections are detailed within our Compliance Assessment Report Forms (CAR). We use our guidance on assessing and scoring environmental permit compliance to score permit breaches in accordance with our Compliance Classification Scheme (CCS).
The risk category and score we give a non-compliance reflects the potential impact it could have if it were not addressed promptly and adequately. The only exception is for non-compliances relating to amenity conditions - odour, dust, noise, and pests. We categorise the risk and score these according to their actual (rather than potential) impact. Further details on this can be found in our FAQs.
Copies of our Compliance Assessment Forms (CAR) forms will be available on the public register 28 days after they are issued to the operator, a period given to them to challenge the content within the report. If they choose to challenge our report this will delay the release.
Concerned about the site – who to contact:
If you are experiencing amenity impacts from the activities on site and it is affecting your lifestyle, or you are aware of pollution resulting from the permitted activities, please call our free 24-hour incident hotline number: 0800 807060.
When you call our hotline please provide as much of the information as you can:
- When you first noticed the problem.
- How long it lasted.
- When was it at its worst and is it still occurring?
- Where you noticed it.
- What were the weather conditions like.
- What it smelt like.
- Is the problem constant or intermittent?
- The intensity of the odour on a scale of 1-6.
Please use our numerical intensity of the odour categories:
0 - No odour
1 - Very faint odour
2 - Faint odour
3 - Distinct odour
4 - Strong odour
5 - Very strong odour
6 - Extremely strong odour
What happens when you report a problem?
We log all calls even though we may not be able to send an officer out to the site.
Reports are passed to the operator to start investigations; personal data is never supplied on these reports. Depending on the circumstances we will also attend to assess the amenity impact or emission and identify any potential sources. Whilst we cannot look at all reports immediately, prompt reporting ensures that we are able to target our site visits appropriately and provides us the best chance of identifying any potential source and associated actions.
Your reports provide valuable data on the nature and scale of the problem, and we appreciate the effort you take in passing them to us.
See our attachment section below for frequently asked questions about the permitting process should we receive an application to permit a clinical waste incineration process.
Audiences
- Members of the public
- Elected representatives, including MPs
Interests
- Permits
- Environmental permitting
- Permit pages
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