Three left in running for major Welsh waste contract
4 April 2011
A partnership of five councils in North Wales has today (April 4) named a reduced shortlist for its £800 million long-term residual waste treatment contract.
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- The North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project is expected to deliver a long-term waste treatment solution for five North Wales councils North Wales councils cut major contract shortlist
The North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP) said it had reduced a “highly competitive” list of eight bidders for the treatment contract down to three.
The three companies vying for the deal are:
- Waste management firm SITA UK
- Waste and recycling company Veolia Environmental Services Aurora
- Energy-from-waste incineration specialist Wheelabrator Technologies.
It is anticipated that the successful bidder will be charged with catering for around 150,000 tonnes of residual waste each year. The contract is expected to run for around 25 years.
Councillor Eryl Williams, chair of the NWRWTP’s joint committee, said: “We are confident that the shortlist offers us the most environmentally beneficial, practical and economic proposals available. We will work closely with these three companies over the coming months before narrowing the selection still further.”
The council partnership intends to cut the shortlist to two bidders in early 2012, with a preferred bidder being named in late 2012/early 2013. The full contract award is scheduled to take place in spring or summer 2013.
The shortlist means that the following bidders named in December 2010 are now out of the running: a consortium of Biffa waste services and E.ON; Covanta Energy; a consortium called Complete Circle comprised of Shanks, John Laing Investments, Grays Waste Management and Keppel Seghers; Viridor; and a joint bid by Waste Recycling Group and Balfour Beatty Capital.
Contract
The contract, which was first advertised in July 2010, is being delivered with £142.7 million Welsh Assembly Government funding, which is being delivered through a yearly subsidy (see letsrecycle.com story).
In its business case for Welsh Assembly Government funding, the partnership used energy-from-waste with combined heat and power as a reference technology. However, it has insisted that the tender process is technology neutral.
Stephen Penny, project director of NWRWTP added: “North Wales has some of the most successful recycling schemes in Wales and I would encourage everyone to recycle as much as they can, as often as they can.
“This service is about finding a positive solution for the comparatively small amount of waste that is left over. It is part of a wider, integrated solution for waste.”
Councils
The local authorities that form the Partnership are Flintshire county council, which is leading the project, Conwy county borough council, Denbighshire county council, Gwynedd council and the Isle of Anglesey county council.
Colin Everett, lead chief executive for the project and Flintshire county council said: “This project will form a key part of North Wales’ sustainable waste management strategies. The evaluation of all the solutions proposed has been and extensive and with this shortlist announcement, North Wales has moved a step closer to treating its waste in a more sustainable way.”
Communities in the respective council areas are set to be kept abreast of the development of the contract over the summer through a series of events in the region.
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