Amount of waste the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre will process in 2021
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 has seen many people continuing to spend more time at home and levels of household waste in Cornwall have reflected this. Despite the easing of restrictions over the summer, levels of household recycling and residual waste in Cornwall have remained high. As a result, we anticipate that the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre (CERC) will have to process around 11% more residual waste during 2021 than before the pandemic.

The CERC has a permit limit which allows the processing of up to 240,000 tonnes per year. Our regulator, the Environment Agency, has agreed to allow the facility to process up to 280,000 tonnes of waste during 2021 to allow for the management of this additional waste at this critical time. This second dispensation granted by the Agency, following a similar one granted last year, allows the facility to continue to operate until the end of 2021, whilst maintaining compliance with the current permit.

We are closely monitoring levels of waste and, as we enter the final quarter of 2021, we anticipate that whilst we will exceed the energy recovery centre’s permit limit of 240,000 tonnes, we will be within the extended 280,000 tonne limit agreed with the Environment Agency for this year.

Annual planned shutdown
The annual planned shutdown of the Cornwall energy recovery centre is due to begin in late October to allow for routine inspections and maintenance of the facility.

• Line 2 will be shut down first on 29 October and is due to come back into service week commencing 08 November.
• Line 1 will then be shut down from 20 November, coming back into service week commencing 29 November.

As the lines come back into service, low pressure steam will be released through the roof vents during the re-start process, which may be visible and is a normal part of the process.

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