Government plan to build a hazardous waste facility

Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne MHK will ask Tynwald to support capital funding of £330,000 at this month’s sitting of Tynwald.

The proposed Hazardous Waste Transfer Facility would be built on a site near to the incinerator at Middle Park off Richmond Hill in Braddan.

The facility would provide a central point for the collection and safe storage of up to 2,000 tonnes of hazardous wastes. The operating costs would be met by the waste producers.

Mr Gawne said: ‘The need for this facility is one of the consequences of having such a diverse and successful economy.

‘The Isle of Man is home to thriving aerospace and precision engineering sectors that produce a certain amount of hazardous wastes. The Hazardous Waste Transfer Facility is a key development that will support future economic growth and also minimise any potential impact on people’s health or the environment.’

As well as waste generated by the manufacturing industry, the facility would also deal with smaller amounts of hazardous waste produced by laboratories and Noble’s Hospital, and unidentified materials washed up on local beaches.

Because of their nature or chemistry, these wastes cannot be safely managed through the incinerator (or Energy from Waste plant) or landfill sites and are shipped off-island for specialist treatment and disposal.

In addition to packaging, transport and disposal costs, waste producers have to pay for special permits to ship the waste under EU regulations.

It can take several months to accumulate an economically-viable load for export, so the waste has to be stored during the intervening period.

The Isle of Man currently does not have a central transfer facility and most hazardous waste is stored on the site of production.

While this is not unsafe, in the longer term it is not considered best practice.

Planning permission is already in place for the Hazardous Waste Transfer Facility, which has been designed in conjunction with the Manufacturing and Technical Industry Waste Sustainability Committee, the Fire and Rescue Service and the Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate.

Hazardous wastes will be collected by the site operator or delivered to the facility by specialist companies and then held in designated storage bays before being packaged for onwards shipment.

Mr Gawne said: ‘The proposed facility will serve the Isle of Man for at least the next 20 years and is part of the department’s commitment to providing the infrastructure on which to build economic success.

‘It will ensure that the Isle of Man, and in particular the manufacturing sector, can continue to manage its hazardous wastes economically and in accordance with its regulatory obligations.’

The Department of Infrastructure said the Hazardous Waste Transfer Facility would be built by an Isle of Man contractor and the operators appointed following a competitive tender process.

It is estimated that the facility would be operational by March 2015.

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