An international company is looking to expand its Rainham recycling facility's building floorspace by more than 3,000sqm, as it pursues a redevelopment of the site. 

Veolia, which delivers waste, water and energy services around the world, has applied to upgrade and future-proof its site in Coldharbour Lane. 

As it stands, Veolia has permission to operate the site until the end of 2024. The space is used to run two facilities, an MRF (material recycling facility) and a PRF (plastics recycling facility). 

The MRF is used to sort recycled materials into groups, such as aluminium, steel, glass and plastics, while the PRF then separates these into different polymer types, such as PET (drinks bottles) and HDPE (milk bottles). 

The company is hoping to get permission to operate the current site until the end of 2026. However, after this date, it intends on consolidating the MRF and PRF facilities into one building, alongside a host of other amendments to the area. 

The redevelopment, according to documents submitted by Veolia, is expected to result in almost 3,500sqm additional floorspace, taking the total building floorspace to just more than 11,000sqm covering the MRF, PRF and some bale storage. 

If approved, the site is anticipated to support 200,000 tonnes of new input per year, a significant increase on its current 130,000 to 160,000 tonnes per year. 

Among the reasons given for the proposal are requirements to modernise the facility and future-proof it against new pressures, as well as a need to respond to growing demands. 

Veolia wrote the site has seen an increase in recyclable waste materials in the last 10 years, a rise exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

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When asked why the work to the facility is required, a Veolia spokesperson said: “We intend to redevelop and expand the facility to handle the increase in recycling expected following the implementation of the government’s resources and waste strategy.” 

The government introduced a tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30 per cent recycled plastic in April last year. 

The Veolia site is located just east of the Freightmaster Estate, for which phase one of a major redevelopment was approved by the council last year. 

View the application on Havering Council’s planning portal using the reference P0070.23.