PLANS have been approved for a methane stripping plant on a former landfill site at Poole, near Wellington.

Somerset County Council has given consent to waste management firm Viridor, which is also seeking permission for a waste oil recycling facility next to its household waste recycling centre (HWRC) in Poole.

Viridor wants to remove the potent greenhouse gas methane which has been leaching from the ground and poses a threat of fires and explosions if it reaches the sewerage system.

The council imposed conditions on the development covering lighting and noise coming from the site, and requiring the area to be cleared and reinstated within 12 months of the end of the operation of the plant.

Landfill use of the former clay pit, which was once part of the Poole Brickworks operation, started in the late 1970s but it was closed and covered with layers of soil in 2009.

Since then, decomposition of the buried waste, particularly food and other organic materials, has been producing methane gas, recognised as a major contributor to climate change because it has 80 times more warming power than carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere.

County councillor John Thorne, who represents the area, said: “Building the methane stripping plant is a welcome move by Viridor as we need to tackle global warming.

“However, I have some doubts about its further plans to also build a waste oil recycling plant and we will have to wait and see if the county council also approves that one.”

Last year, Viridor announced plans to become a net zero emissions company by 2040 and to become the first UK net negative emissions waste and recycling company by 2045.