Bid to vary Portland incinerator permit ‘nuts’, critics say

An application to burn more types of waste at a planned incinerator on the Dorset coast have been branded “completely wrong”.

Powerfuel Portland has permission to build an energy recovery facility at Portland Port after the Court of Appeal dismissed a legal challenge by campaigners in November.

The firm wants to vary its environmental permit to include additional waste types, including waste from sewage cleaning, bulky waste and electrical equipment.

Responses to an Environment Agency consultation, which ends on Thursday, cite pollution fears, but Powerfuel Portland says the changes are a “minor technical variation” and would “not result in an increased risk to the environment”.

Powerfuel Portland said it applied for the “minor technical variation to its environmental permit” on 5 June and the six-week consultation was a statutory obligation.

A company spokesperson said: “No changes to the environmental effects of the project have been identified as a result of the proposed changes.”

But South Dorset MP Lloyd Hatton said the bid to vary the permit was “completely wrong”.

He said: “It’s really important that we make our voice known that this incinerator would be bad news for our local environment.”

The application to the Environment Agency requests dozens of new waste classifications to be added to the list of permitted waste, which currently consists of refuse derived fuel (RDF) from domestic, commercial and industrial non-hazardous waste.

It says: “The additional wastes types are all classified as non-hazardous wastes, and are considered to be ‘similar wastes’ to those currently to be received and processed at the facility because the wastes are also derived from domestic and commercial and industrial sources.”

More than 70 anonymised responses have been published on the Environment Agency website, citing concerns such as increased smells, noise, fire risk, traffic, pollutants, vermin and health risks.

Respondents called the application, “nuts”, “cynical” and “devastating”.

The facility is expected to process up to 202,000 tonnes of waste a year, creating energy for 30,000 homes.

Permission was initially rejected by Dorset Council but was approved by the government in 2024 following an appeal.

Powerfuel Portland said it would create jobs and allow the council to “manage its waste in-county”.