Worksop plastics plan wins 6-5 vote despite 1,200-strong petition

By Daniel Okafor

Nottinghamshire County Council’s planning committee approved Envale UK’s proposed plastics recycling and energy recovery plant in Worksop by six votes to five on Tuesday, despite a petition signed by more than 1,200 residents.

What did the planning committee approve?

Envale UK plans to build the plant with an energy recovery facility on a brownfield site off Shireoaks Road, at the western edge of Worksop. The land previously supported coal-product manufacturing and operated as a brickworks.

No capacity from the proposed plant is operating yet: the committee’s go-ahead advances Envale’s proposal rather than confirming that the plant has begun processing material.

A planning permission granted in 2006 for a waste transfer and recycling facility on the site remains in force, although that earlier facility never materialized. NRL, the former operator, faced environmental enforcement action in 2013 that required waste removal. Four serious fires took place within 12 months, and NRL entered administration in early 2014.

Takeaway: The vote advances a new proposal, but the recycling plant remains non-operational.

What has Envale committed to deliver?

Envale says the plant will prevent 24,369 tonnes each year of non-recyclable residual waste from going to landfill. The company says its energy recovery facility will generate up to 10 MW of heat and 2.5 MW of electricity, enough to power more than 650 homes every year.

Envale presents the proposal as a way to keep hard-to-recycle plastics out of burning or burial and return them to manufacturing. The 24,369-tonne figure measures landfill avoidance, while the heat and electricity figures describe power capacity; they are separate performance measures.

These numbers describe a proposed facility, not measured output. No construction start, commissioning date or throughput deadline accompanies the approval, so the annual diversion and power claims remain commitments to track rather than operating performance.

Envale’s planning case also cites the waste local plan. Tom Bagley, speaking for the company, said the plan identifies a “significant shortfall is residual waste treatment capacity” and that landfill capacity is “effectively exhausted.” He added: “Rather than burning or burying this hard-to-recycle plastics, this process provides a circular route back into the manufacturing of new materials.”

Takeaway: If built and delivered as designed, the project would add material recovery and energy supply; until then, its headline numbers remain promises.

Why did residents object?

The original consultation received more than 900 objections. Residents raised concerns about air quality, noise and traffic. Bassetlaw District Council’s planning committee objected in 2024, although most statutory consultees did not object.

Rhodesia Parish Council also opposed the scheme, and a petition against the plant drew more than 1,200 resident signatures.

Lesley Deamer, speaking on behalf of the parish council, told the committee:

“Over the past 20 years, this area has undergone significant transformation. Homes have been built, businesses have invested and communities have grown.”

“What was once regarded as an industrial area is now a place where people work, live, raise families and enjoy the surrounding countryside – this progress matters and it must not be put at risk by an inappropriate development.”

Takeaway: The narrow vote reflects a conflict between residual-waste treatment needs and local concerns about homes, countryside, air quality, noise and traffic.

What milestone comes next?

The decision advances Envale’s scheme through planning, but the land’s record shows approval alone does not guarantee delivery. The earlier permission dates to 2006; its associated facility never materialized.

For Envale, the next proof point is operational rather than political: construction must convert planning consent into processing capacity. For objectors, commissioning will put the air-quality, noise and traffic concerns back in focus.

Takeaway: Commissioning will determine whether Envale turns an approved proposal into 24,369 tonnes of annual landfill diversion and 2.5 MW of electricity; until then, Worksop has no added recovery capacity from this plant.