Recycling firm told to remove rural site stockpile

Sterecycle, which has a large waste plant in Rotherham, treats so-called “black bag” from domestic dustbins across Yorkshire and removes products such as glass and metals which are then sold for recycling.

It then treats the organic elements using steam and pressure to produce what it calls Sterefibre, which it is currently marketing as a “soil improver” and a medium to grow biomass products for power generation.

However, it has struggled to find markets for the untested material and since opening its Rotherham plant in 2008 much of the fibre has been stockpiled at a landfill site in Hampole on the border of Doncaster and Wakefield.

Last summer, people who live near the site told the Yorkshire Post they had implored Doncaster Council to take action over the smell from the material, and in September, action was taken to stop operations.

Sterecycle and its contractor Catplant, which operates the storage site on Hazel Lane in the village, appealed against the council’s decision but the planning inspectorate has now ordered it stop using the site completely.

Nick Balliger,chairman of Hampole and Skelbrooke Parish Council, said he and his neighbours were delighted to hear that Sterecycle would now have to take its products and lorries elsewhere after a long battle.

He added: “It has taken almost a year for us to get a result and we were not particularly hopeful, but people were totally fed up with the smell from the stockpile.”

In his appeal judgement planning inspector Martin Joyce said he was not particularly concerned about odour from the material, but said its storage was an inappropriate use of green belt land,

Sterecycle has suffered a series of controversies, including a blast at its plant in Rotherham in January 2011 in which a worker was killed. The incident is still being investigated by safety officials.

The company has also recently agreed to install odour-controlling measures at the Rotherham site after repeated complaints from neighbours and attention from the Environment Agency.

Tom Shields, the chief executive of the Canadian-owned firm, said he was “surprised” at the planning inspector’s decision and said work was now ongoing on what would happen to the stockpile.

He added: “We have six months to stop using the site and 15 months to remove the Sterefibre, and we are now considering our options in light of that decision.

“We are pleased to see that the planning inspector identified that there wasn’t a problem for residents, but he did find that the storage was not appropriate in the green belt.

“It is important to note there is a lot less Sterefibre on site now than there was, because we have removed at least 30,000 tonnes since the latter part of last year.

“We are supplying it for use to grow biomass crops and we see that use of it as a good thing.”

Mr Shields admitted there had been problems with odour at its treatment site in Templeborough, Rotherham, but said the company had also been blamed for smells coming from other sources.

He added; “We have recently agreed a package of measures with the Environment Agency to reduce the odour problems at our site in Rotherham, Orders have been placed for equipment which will be installed soon.”