THE Guardian visited Brunner Mond in Lostock to hear its argument for building an on-site incinerator.

It wants to bulldoze the derelict power plant off Griffiths Road and replace it with an energy-from-waste plant, which would be run by E.ON.

The waste would arrive in either a pellet or shredded form ready for burning, the energy would then be used to keep Brunner Mond running.

The plans are still in their infancy but the company decided to go public so that its proposals could be debated alongside similar plans.

Reporter Frances Kindon and editor Keith Morris met with business development executives, Mac Thorpe and Ladan Iravanian, to ask them the questions on everyone’s lips.

Why do you want to do it?

We use enough energy in one year to heat the whole of Cheshire for two years.

That’s why it is so important to us. We are here, we have been here for a long time, if we are going to stay here we’ve got to find a way to cut our bills.

But why incineration?

Because it is the most tried and tested. We want something we know will work, that we know is safe.

How many lorry loads would you be looking at?

There is a limit as to the amount of traffic that can come into the site. We will see how much of that is already taken up to work out what we can take.

The rest will come in by rail.

How high would the chimney be?

We have got to understand what level of gases are going to come out first and that will determine the height.

So what about dioxins and emissions?

We know that people worry about it but this industry has really developed over the past few years. There are E. ON plants in the most environmentally stringent countries in the world such as Sweden and Denmark.

We are a chemical factory, we are used to dealing with environmental issues, we couldn’t be here if we didn’t look after the people.

People really need to come in and understand and read up about it. I have got children living just down the road, I will be a neighbour of this plant.

Would it smell?

No, it will be an air controlled environment. We are not going to have waste lying around.

Mid Cheshire could end up with an incinerator in Middlewich and a gasification plant in Wincham, all of which produce emissions. When the EU sets emission levels, is it done plant-by-plant or does it take into account surrounding sites?

The EU law changed five years ago and the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) directive now makes sure that it will have to take account of what’s already there. Background air quality will be taken into consideration.

What next then?

We have produced what is called a ‘scoping document’ which sets out our basic intention and asks the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for their opinion.

This will then influence the environmental impact statement which will be submitted with the planning application. Cheshire West and Chester Council and Cheshire East will be major consultees in this. It will be between 18 months and two years before we get a decision.