New facilities approved for chemical recycling plant at Port of Sunderland

Plans for new and improved facilities at a Sunderland chemical recycling plant have been given the stamp of approval by city councillors.

Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee, at a meeting this week, discussed an application for Tradebe Solvent Recycling Ltd.

The business is based at the southern end of the Port of Sunderland, in the Hendon ward, and is understood to have been operating since the 1970s.

According to council planning documents, its operations involve the “receipt of used solvents and the subsequent purification of those solvents for re-use”.

New plans from the business proposed the demolition of an existing storage tank and the creation of new facilities.

This included five new storage tanks to “facilitate the additional processing capacity at the site” and installing a new 19-metre-high ‘distillation column’.

A planning statement submitted to council officials said the company had “experienced significantly increased demand for its service of purifying solvents”.

A council planning report said this was “understood in part to have resulted from increasing difficulties in obtaining solvents from the EU post-Brexit, but mainly due to Tradebe’s customers adopting more environmentally sustainable operating practices, opting for recycling rather than disposal”.

The planning application for new facilities was considered by Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee at a meeting on January 8, 2024.

A report prepared by council planning officers, and presented to councillors on Monday, recommended the planning application for approval.

It noted that the plans were acceptable in relation to local and national policies around waste management, with the new infrastructure “operating in line with the prevailing onsite activities”.

After being put to the vote at the City Hall meeting, the plans won unanimous support from members of the Planning and Highways Committee.

Councillor Ciaran Morrissey, committee member and ward councillor for Hendon, described the plans as “welcome investment in the port area”.

Cllr Morrissey told the meeting: “It’s just good to see more private sector investment and more investment in the Hendon area”.

Councillor Melanie Thornton, chair of the Planning and Highways Committee, added: “I’m sure we all agree investment is great for the city and for that area in particular”.

The applicant’s planning statement, referenced in a council report, said the plans could see Tradebe Solvent Recycling Ltd increase its “annual throughput” of solvent purified/recycled at the plant.

It is forecast that the business could “increase throughput by up to 25% giving a throughput of 50,000 tonnes per annum”.

The new distillation column is expected to provide the “additional processing capacity” while the proposed storage tanks would offer “additional storage capabilities to allow Tradebe to service this increased demand”.

Under planning conditions, the development must be brought forward within three years.