A new state-of-the-art system to manage the risk of potential fires in the council’s Energy From Waste Plant is set to save the authority £1.8m in insurance payments.

The plant has been running since 1998 at a time when fire regulations didn’t require a full fire suppression system, with the rare small fires being extinguished manually.

While small fires are an increasing risk at such plants, the council has decided to upgrade its automatic detection and suppression system to mitigate the risk further still. Residents can help in this matter by recycling batteries and especially lithium batteries which are a known source of these fires.

Not only will this make the plant even safer, but by upgrading the system it should also lead to significantly reduced insurance premiums from around £3.6m currently to £1.8m after installation. The cost of the improvement work is just over £2m and future insurance savings will quickly see this recouped.

The system has been designed to fit the plant’s spec and is currently being installed. Councillor Dr Rob Clinton, cabinet member for climate change, said:

“Our Energy from Waste Plant already reduces the amount of waste we send to landfill and also helps us to generate our own energy.

“By upgrading the fire suppression system we will to meet Goal 9 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by ensuring a resilient and reliable facility, protecting energy production and work towards our own climate change goals.”

Councillor Damian Corfield, cabinet member for highways and environmental services, added:

“Retrofitting the plant with this new technology not only makes the plant itself safer, but comes with the added bonus of significantly reducing our insurance premiums, a saving which benefits both the council and the council tax payer.”