Information for Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (Braintree)
Status: ExistingPlanning Region: East of England
Planning Sub-Region: Essex
Operator: Indaver (with land leased from Gent Fairhead)
Capacity: 595,000
Campaign Group(s): Parishes Against Incineration (PAIN), No Essex Incinerator and Essex and Colchester FoE / Eastern Green Party
Notes: Incinerator for municipal and C&I RDF and paper pulp granted planning permission in March 2010 after a public inquiry [Source]. Application to allow for a maximum of 595,000 capacity approved in February 2016 (ref ESS/34/15/BTE). Allocated Round One Contracts for Difference funding in February 2015 [Source]. In April 2015 permission was granted by Essex County Council for the facility to take SRF/RDF from further afield [Source]. An environmental permit application was made in November 2015 (EPR/KP3035RY/A001), with Schedule 5 notices issues by the Environment Agency in March 2016 and July 2016, and refused in December 2016 [Source]. Consultation on draft revised permit announced in March 2017 with stack height increased to 58 metres [EPR/FP3335YU/A001]. Planning application to increase stack height to 58 metres submitted in July 2017 and refused in April 2019 [ESS/36/17/BTE, Source]. Environmental permit issued in September 2017 with a 58 metre stack height [Source]. Permit variation application to allow a reduced stack height was approved in June 2020 (EPR/FP3335YU/V002). In February 2022 the Council voted to extend the permission for the site but not to allow for the incinerator to be built without the associated infrastructure which formed part of the original application [Source]. In September 2022 the Planning Inspectorate confirmed that Indaver Rivenhall Ltd had lodged an appeal against the Council's Condition 66 decision which require that the current planning consent can only be implemented as part of a wider scheme (PINS Appeal Ref 3306429). In November 2023 an NSIP application to increase generating capacity to 65MW was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, and this was approved in December 2024 (see NSIP page). In July 2025 it was reported that Essex County Council had requested a review of the planning applications by the Secretary of State [Source]. In April 2025 Indaver applied to Essex County Council for a "continuation of development" (ref ESS/23/25/BTE) to allow for various deviations from the conditions of the existing consent including a "void" area for carbon capture, a change to what the MRF can process, the removal of the "no visible plume" requirement, and to allow for a "phased development" which would allow for the incinerator to be built before the MRF (with no deadline for when the MRF would have to be built). The carbon capture element was also the subject of related 'slot out' and 'slot in' applications made in parallel (ESS/39/23/BTE/NMA13 and SS/24/25/BTE). In June 2025 Braintree District Council objected to these three applications and called for the Secretary of State to call them in. The site was reported to have taken its first waste delivery in July 2025 [Source]. In August 2025 the Environment Agency opened consultation on variations to the permit that would increase the types of waste that could be incinerated at the plant and allow for a "phased" delivery of the wider project, and this was approved in November 2025 (EPR/CP3906LP/V003). In January 2026 the Secretary of State rejected a request from the operator to be able to vary the details of the approved incinerator in ways that could impact the environment without securing permission from the Secretary of State [Source]. (Entry updated 2026-04-20)
Plume Plotter entry for Rivenhall
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Waste management for England 2024: Pre-operational (Environment Agency)
Uses data from 2024 Waste Data Interrogator - Version 2 released by the Environment Agency under the Environment Agency Conditional Licence. © Environment Agency copyright
Permit: CP3906LP
| Operator Name | Site Name | Site Address | Former Planning Region | Former Planning Sub-Region | Type | Permitted Capacity (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INDAVER RIVENHALL LIMITED | Rivenhall Integrated Waste Management Facility | Rivenhall Airfield, Woodhouse Lane, Kelvedon, Colchester, Essex , CO5 9DF, | East of England | Essex | Municipal and/or Industrial & Commercial | 595,000 |
Entry on WikiWaste:
https://wikiwaste.org.uk/index.php/Rivenhall_EFWPermit files:
38-Permit-2017.pdfPermit Decision files:
38-PermitDecision-2017.pdfPermit Variation files:
38-PermitVariation-2020.pdf38-PermitVariation-2025.pdf
Permit Variation Decision files:
38-PermitVariationDecision-2020.pdf38-PermitVariationDecision-2025.pdf
Planning Consent files:
38-PlanningConsent-2024.pdfEnvironment Agency Compliance Assessment Reports
Click here to see the incinerator compliance documents for existing English incineratorsStandard notice:
UKWIN (and therefore the UKWIN map) focuses on Municipal Waste Incinerators, whereas our colleagues at Biofuelwatch focus on biomass projects. If you are interested in biomass incinerators (including waste wood plants) over 20MW then please see the Biofuelwatch map of UK Biomass Power Stations. Those concerned about biomass plants, including waste wood plants, should email Biofuelwatch at biofuelwatch[at]gmail.com.Please be aware: There is always room for improvement, so please send updates to coordinator@ukwin.org.uk. Existing Incinerator means a facility that is operational or under construction/commissioning. A Potential Incinerator is a facility where there is a proposal for an incinerator (e.g. planning application or planning consent) or other reason to believe an incinerator might be built/proposed in the future. A Prevented Incinerator is something which used to be a proposal or expected incinerator which we do not believe is currently being progressed (e.g. because the project was cancelled, planning permission refused, or years have gone by since the permission was granted without any progress) - in some cases a facility marked as prevented is being progressed without us being aware or is subsequently revived. Capacity is usually the permitted or maximum advertised capacity of the facility.