Hertfordshire begin waste contract talks

The council has published a prior notification inviting waste management companies to attend a market testing day on October 3 which will give firms the chance to find out more about the deal, while also allowing the council to assess interest in the contract.

Derrick Ashley, executive member for waste, said: “This contract will bring a major change in the way waste is managed in Hertfordshire in future. We are determined to deliver the facilities we need to ensure that we recover value from as much waste as possible and send as little as possible to landfill.

“Our residents have told us that is their priority. We hope the waste industry will come and talk to us about ways they can help us to deliver that new approach,” he added.

PFI

Depending on cabinet approval, the council hopes to lodge a final Outline Business Case for £100 million of PFI funding to Defra before the next application deadline of October 31.

This follows the initial approach it made to the government in April with the submission of an Expression of Interest for the money.

PFI credits could potentially provide up to 50% of the capital costs for waste management and treatment for the county, with the county's waste management contract procurement process due to begin in earnest in spring 2009 with a formal advertisement for tenders in the Official Journal of the European Union.

In minutes of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership meeting of April 21, the partnership outlined that the preferred technology used at a new facility would be energy-from-waste (with or without combined heat and power), with consideration also made for MBT and Advanced Thermal Treatment, while a reference site of New Barnfield, Hatfield was disclosed as the potential location of a major treatment facility.

Strategy

The county council is currently responsible for the disposal of 561,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year, around 60% of which is sent to landfill, but the majority of its landfill contracts are due to run out in 2009.

In response to the threat of rising landfill costs and the necessity of seeking alternatives, the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership developed a joint municipal waste management strategy to provide long-term targets for biodegradable waste through means such as recycling and composting.

The strategy, which saw 11,000 consultation responses from Hertfordshire residents, prioritised considerations for a new waste treatment facility to include provisions to include the minimisation of transport to any new plant, cost effectiveness and affordability, environmental impact and the potential for turning energy into waste, such as electricity and local heating.