Pontardulais waste plant plan for ex-Morlais colliery

A construction waste processing centre could be built at a former mine in Carmarthenshire.

Browns Recycling Group Ltd wants to recycle building and demolition waste at the redundant Morlais Colliery site in Llangennech, Llanelli.

Up to 50,000 tonnes of waste could be processed every year, five and half days a week.

But some residents and groups are concerned about HGV traffic, dust pollution and noise.

A report to Carmarthenshire council’s planning committee said coal mining at the site ended in the early 1980s and it had been mostly vacant since.

It said the proposal would be an opportunity to help reduce waste in the construction industry and help towards the Welsh Government’s 90% recycling target for the industry by 2019/20.

But people living near the site said they were concerned about possible dust pollution the work could generate and its effect on residents and nearby schools.

They are also worried the impact of increased traffic could have on the roads, noise caused by the crushing of materials and how the plant might impact on the nearby River Loughor, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

But the applicant outlined a number of mitigating measures, including a site speed limit of 10mph to reduce noise and limiting drop heights when feeding material into crushers to reduce dust.

The application will be discussed at a planning meeting on Wednesday.