How we are regulating Kronospan, Chirk

Overview

Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma.

We fully understand the level of concern within the local community, and we want to reassure people that we take every incident reported to us seriously.

We review all incidents related to Kronospan reported by local residents, requesting the operator to investigate and provide feedback on each report.

We continue to ensure that the site complies with its environmental permit, which is in place to safeguard the environment and protect human health.

Since we became the sole regulators, we have overseen more than 20 improvement measures to ensure the site minimises its impact on the local community and environment.

However, further improvements are required from the operator to address dust and odour issues. We will continue to work with the operator to ensure these steps are taken at the earliest opportunity.

Background 

Kronospan Limited has been operating a wood panel board manufacturing plant in Chirk for many years.  

To legally operate the plant, Kronospan must hold an Environmental Permit in accordance with the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016.  

Previously, the regulation of the plant was split between Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) and Environment Agency Wales (now subsumed into Natural Resources Wales (NRW)). 

Following a direction from the Welsh Government in 2018, NRW consolidated the two existing permits into one. The consolidated permit was issued October 2023 and since then, the site has been solely regulated by NRW. 

The permit is available on our Public Register and includes  an introductory note that describes the main features of the facility. A copy of the current permit can be found here:

What is our role? 

In addition to our central permitting function, local NRW Officers carry out regular compliance assessments to ensure permit conditions are being met. These activities include incident investigation, planned and unannounced site inspections, and reviewing of emissions monitoring data and other reports that are required by the permit. All of this information is available to view on our Public Register. 

NRW may take action if it suspects a permit holder has breached a permit condition or broken the law. Actions might include: 

• giving advice, 

• changing permit conditions, 

• serving an enforcement notice which will state what must be done to fix problems and by when, 

• serving a suspension notice if there’s a serious risk of pollution - this means the activities must stop, 

• issuing a formal warning, formal caution, or prosecution. 

Incident Reports 

NRW regularly receives reports from the local community regarding noise, dust, and odour emissions from the Kronospan factory. We log all incidents and immediately forward the details of the reported issue to the operator for investigation and provide feedback. We also attend incidents when necessary and take them into account as part of our compliance assessment activities. 

The Environmental Permit includes conditions that require Kronospan to prevent, and where that is not practicable, minimise such emissions. This requires the use of ‘appropriate measures’ also known as Best Available Techniques (BAT) that are set out in the industry guidance.  

NRW’s role is to ensure that Kronospan is using appropriate measures to control noise, dust an odour. This is assessed during the permitting process and through site inspection. If appropriate measures are not in place, then NRW will set actions or improvement conditions to bring the activities into compliance. 

Since NRW became sole regulators in 2022, we have overseen over 20 improvement conditions to ensure the site minimises its impact on the local community and environment.  

However, further improvements to be actioned by the operator to minimise any noise, dust, and odour issues. We will continue to work with the operator to ensure these steps are taken at the earliest opportunity. 

Noise 

The manufacturing activities at the Kronospan site can give rise to noise emissions.  The issued permit requires that the operator should operate in a manner that prevents and minimises the emission of noise and vibration in accordance with BAT. 

An improvement condition (IC40) was placed upon the Kronospan to produce and submit to NRW a Noise Management Plan (NMP) in line with relevant standards. 

Kronospan has submitted a response to this procedure which included noise assessments and modelling of noise emissions.  That standard that environmental regulators assess operators’ activities against, however, requires that measured noise is assessed against a relevant background measurement. 

Obtaining background measurements can be difficult to obtain due to site operations and weather conditions.  A background measurement has now been obtained in late 2024 during a large scale site shutdown and NRW awaits the submission of the completed assessment and NMP.     

Dust  

Kronospan’s manufacturing processes generate significant quantities of dust that are controlled using various techniques set out in their Dust Management Plan. 

Dusty process emissions pass through abatement systems such as cyclones and fabric filters to remove dust before being released to atmosphere. The most significant emission points have emission limit values and must be monitored to demonstrate that emissions are in compliance with the permit. 

NRW set an improvement condition that required Kronospan to investigate technical solutions for the monitoring and control of 30 individual bag filters and this work is ongoing. More information can be found here.   

NRW completed a dust management audit in October and an unannounced site inspection on 31/12/24. The findings of these inspections are recorded in Compliance Assessment Reports and will be placed on our Public Register. Some permit non-compliance was identified, and actions have been set requiring Kronospan to make improvements. 

Odour 

Emissions from Kronospan’s processes have strict emission limit values to ensure emissions are minimised and to protect air quality. Some emissions are also odorous and work has been completed to measure and understand the odour contribution from various processes. 

Kronospan have been undertaking a trial to reduce emissions from an emission point known as WESP21.  WESP21 is authorised to release emissions from a dryer that dries waste wood before it is used to manufacture particleboard.  WESP21 was identified as the most odorous source. If the trial is successful, then the techniques used may be applied to other emission points. More information on the trial can be found here.  

Oriented Strand Board (OSB Variation) 

When an operator intends to make changes to their permitted activities, they must apply to NRW to ‘vary’ the permit. The application will be determined by NRW Permitting Officers in accordance with our legal obligations and ultimately be granted or refused. 

NRW has received a substantial permit variation application from Kronospan for the operation of an oriented strand board (OSB) manufacturing process. 

Once NRW decides that we have all the information needed to begin the determination of an application, it is ‘duly made’ and we have a statutory requirement to consult with the public for 20 working days. The application was duly made in December and  an advertisement went live on our website 6th December with a closing date of 20th January 2025.  

Our public participation statement, which can be found on our website, outlines why and when we consult. 

After NRW has undertaken all the relevant technical assessments and completed our determination of the application, if we are minded to grant the variation application, a further public consultation will take place before we make our final decision. 

More information on the application can be found here or by visiting our Public Register.

What is an Environmental Permit? 

Environmental permits set legally binding limits on emissions to air, land, and water (if applicable) and other requirements to prevent and minimise the environmental impact of the permitted activities. The permit implements industry standards known as ‘Best Available Techniques’ (BAT). 

Planning matters are not in scope of the Environmental Permit, these remain the responsibility of the Local Planning Authority. 

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Image sourced from Wikimedia.