Council representatives have raised questions about how emissions from the new Beddington incinerator will be monitored.

The £205 million energy recovery facility (ERF) in Beddington Lane is set to be fully operational in October.

When up and running it will be able to process up to 275,000 tonnes of residual waste – consisting of matter that can’t be recycled, reused or composted.

The waste will be incinerated and at the same time produce electricity that will power the facility as well as supply energy to the National Grid.

On Tuesday (September 11) the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) heard that the facility, run by Viridor, was in the final stages of development.

The SLWP is made up of Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Kingston councils.

Cllr Stuart Collins from Croydon Council said: “In terms of presenting the emissions for the Viridor incinerator, I think the key is going to be they must be independent measurements of emissions.

“We need to explain who is actually putting those details out – is it the Environment Agency, us or Viridor producing statistics on the site?

“I would prefer it if there was an independent way of measuring it.”

He asked whether the readings would be done on site and whether the equipment could be ‘tampered with’.

Communications advisor for the SLWP John Haynes said: “My understanding is that the equipment is at the facility itself and the Environment Agency (EA) has access to that equipment and they can access it 24 hours a day any the of year.

“So they ensure that that equipment is operating effectively and correctly so there’s no potential tampering going on so we can be confident that the data it is producing is accurate

“That’s the information the EA will monitor and that’s the same information that will be presented to the public.”

He added that the information will be available on the Viridor website which will be linked to from each borough’s website.

Mr Hayle also told the meeting that the SLWP had been ‘working closely’ with Viridor about how it can engage with residents.

This includes an education centre with enought space for 25 people and at least 12 tours of the facility a year.