Plans for a pyrolysis plant in Swansea have creates a surge of objections to the proposed recycling plant

Tyregen UK Ltd has plans for an 8,000tpa pyrolysis plant in Swansea. In an outrage so typical  when pyrolysis is mentioned, local objections to the plan have been piling up.

Gowerton councillor Susan Jones said people had contacted her about the proposed installation and that “all are against”.

Swansea council is considering a permit application from the company, but permission is already in place to process waste tyres and plastics at the site.

Tyregen UK Ltd said some of the gas captured as part of the process would be reused at the plant at Westfield Industrial Estate in Waunarlwydd, with the remainder treated before being released into the atmosphere via a chimney stack.

Waunarlwydd councillor Wendy Lewis said: “We are a city who pride ourselves on pollution control and this would be hideous for us in Waunarlwydd.”

She said the proposed unit would be near a nursing home, school and an accommodation complex for older people, and feared people would be stuck indoors for days in the event of a fire.

A Gowerton resident said the area already experienced significant traffic congestion and that more and more new homes were being built.

At the recent Tyre recovery Association Annual Forum, one of the topics discussed was the lack of support in the UK for the recycling sector. Somehow it is deemed more environmentally friendly to ship waste halfway around the world for processing in less than satisfactory conditions, than it is to do so safely in the UK and build up self-reliance in recycling.

Modern European standard pyrolysis plants are not huge polluters but NIMBYism keeps putting barriers in the way of developing successful British industries – and in the case of Swansea, creating jobs in a post industrial area much in need of jobs.