MK and Northants cull waste project after PFI axe

Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire county councils are set to cancel their joint waste project in the wake of the withdrawal of £138 million of PFI funding in October's Comprehensive Spending Review.

The two local authorities – who were jointly procuring long-term waste treatment capacity under the banner ‘Project Reduce' – agreed to end the project at a special meeting last week (November 30) following a month-long review of its options.

The decision is likely to be met with disappointment by Covanta Energy, Waste Recycling Group and the partnership of Shanks Group and Wheelabrator Technologies, who were named as three-bidder shortlist for the 25-year deal in August 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire represented one of seven proposed projects to have their PFI funding withdrawn by the government, although, at the time, they were tight-lipped about what the immediate repercussions of the announcement were (see letsrecycle.com story).

Announcing the decision to cancel the project, Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire councils said they were currently unable to announce further details about how they would cater for long-term waste treatment capacity at the present time.

However, they said that the work undertaken as part of the PFI procurement would be “the foundation for the council's decisions” about future plans and that they would be considering shorter term arrangements for the disposal of residual waste.

Formal

The cabinets of the two respective local authorities will need to formally agree the measure in the coming months. Milton Keynes cabinet is set to meet on December 21 to discuss the matter, while Northamptonshire will meet on January 11 2011.

Councillor Heather Smith, cabinet member for waste at Northamptonshire county council, said: “Our partnership has always been strong and the decision to halt the project is not one that has been taken lightly. In these economically challenging times it is necessary to scrutinise everything we do, and the removal of government funding has forced us to reassess our strategy.”

Cllr Smith added that the withdrawal of funding had led to the council having to ensure, more than ever, that it was achieving value-for-money for its residents.

Echoing Cllr Smith's comments, Cllr Mike Galloway, cabinet member for environment at Milton Keynes council added: “This is understandably very disappointing for everyone involved from both authorities. The project has been a very positive one, but we have to make difficult decisions in light of the current state of the economy.”

Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire joined together in 2008 to form Project Reduce to develop 400,000 tonnes of residual waste treatment capacity to be used jointly by the local authorities.