The metropolitan district council is hoping that new technologies such as mechanical biological treatment or anaerobic digestion could be used to meet its landfill diversion targets set by the government.
” The option of going out to tender will enable us to assess what potential contractors can offer.“
– Cllr Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford MDC
Subject to final council scrutiny, a tender is to be put out in the next few weeks seeking potential waste management contractors for a new 25-year waste disposal contract starting in 2008. As well as recovery activities, the contract would include landfill provision, and could be worth more than 375 million over the 25-year period.
Anne Hawkesworth, executive member for the environment, said: “We face increased costs and the EU and government measures will put more pressures on budgets. Going to the market could help us contain costs in the long run.
“The option of going out to tender will enable us to assess what potential contractors can offer,” she added.
Preferred bidders for the contract will be selected within about 12 months, while the final details of the deal should be in place by mid-2006, the council believes.
Technology
Bradford's director of environmental services, Richard Wixey, told letsrecycle.com the new 25-year waste disposal contract would see a new plant constructed which would divert at least 60,000 tonnes of material from landfill.
Mr Wixey said: “We're inviting companies to propose various technologies, and we are not pre-judging what technology is to be used, although it is the resolution of the council executive not to pursue a mass burning route.”
However, the council members have said that while a standard incinerator will not be built, energy-from-waste could still be an option for the contract in the form of pyrolysis or gasification, Mr Wixey said. Turning waste into refuse-derived fuel was also a possibility, he added.
PFI
One possible route for the contract could be gaining government assistance for the costs of the contract through a scheme like the Private Finance Initiative. But this is only an option at this stage, the council has said.
“What we are saying is that once we have got the proposals in, if PFI is part of that package, we will consider it,” Mr Wixey explained. “But we don't want to pre-judge what might be proposed.”
”We don't want to be using our recycling funding to buy landfill allowances. That would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. “
– Richard Wixey, Bradford MDC
The Bradford population currently generates about 220,000 tonnes of household waste a year, growing at a rate of 2-3% each year. The council also has to deal with nearly 70,000 tonnes of trade waste each year. Bradford's household waste recycling rate is about 17% at present, and is likely to reach about 20% by 2005/06, although the metropolitan district still hopes to meet its 24% target by that year.
The council had hoped a private sector contractor could build a recovery plant as a two or three year pilot in order to meet its 24% target. But, discussions with six waste management companies in June made it clear such a project would be unviable.
LATS
The council is now “very concerned” at the demands of the government's Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS). From April next year, the scheme will see councils fined 200 for every tonne of biodegradable municipal waste they sent to landfill outside their allocation of landfill allowances.
Although the council is seeking this long-term disposal contract that would meet the targets, as with many councils in a similar position, Bradford has concerns that meeting its LATS targets before new recovery infrastructure comes online could cost tens of millions.
“We don't want to be using our recycling funding to buy landfill allowances,” Mr Wixey said. “That would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The council is writing to the Local Government Association to express these concerns.”
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