The local authority has revealed that, following initial inquiries from more than 40 organisations, it received 13 pre-qualification responses for the award and, from that, has now created a shortlist of four.
We have announced that Energy from Waste (incorporating incineration), is our preferred solution for Suffolk, but we are open minded about other technologies if a tender comes forward with an alternative technology
Councillor Eddy Alcock
The four bidders are; Shanks Group in a consortium bid with US energy from waste firm Wheelabrator, SITA UK in a consortium bid with Royal Bank Investments, Veolia Environmental Services and, Waste Recycling Group.
Whoever secures the contract will be expected to provide the council with a treatment solution for 250,000 tonnes-a-year of residual waste, with the £200 million capital costs of developing a new facility partially met by the £102 million of PFI credits the council received from Defra in April 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Announcing the shortlist, Suffolk's portfolio holder for environment and waste management, councillor Eddy Alcock, said: “I am delighted that this contract has been so enthusiastically received by the private sector. I believe this interest reflects the excellent reputation of the county council within the waste industry.”
“This confidence in Suffolk echoes the confidence of central government, which has agreed a subsidy of £102m towards its waste treatment facility,” he added.
Technology
The Conservative-controlled council has come under fire from the Labour opposition for its vocal support of Energy-from-Waste using incineration, which was included as the reference technology within the Outline Business Case it submitted to Defra as part of its PFI application.
And, councillor Alcock reiterated its backing for EfW, but stressed that they were not ruling out other solutions.
“Suffolk needs to find a solution to deal with waste that is left over after recycling and composting,” he explained. “We have announced that Energy from Waste (incorporating incineration), is our preferred solution for Suffolk, but we are open minded about other technologies if a tender comes forward with an alternative technology.”
The four bidders are now expected to submit their detailed solutions to the council by March 2009, with the aim of confirming the contract by August 2010 and building the facility by 2014.
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