Buckinghamshire cuts shortlist for 100m waste contract

The decision leaves just two companies in the running for the deal – UK company Waste Recycling Group (WRG) and the US incineration specialists Covanta Energy.

Explaining the decision to move forward with just two potential contractors, the council's cabinet member for strategic planning, Martin Tett, said: “All the bidders were aware that we planned at this time to select two potential suppliers to go forward to the next stage of the procurement process.

“The criteria used to evaluate the bids were clear and known to the companies involved. The evaluation itself was undertaken by a team of professional officers,” he added.

A spokesperson for Veolia told letsrecycle.com that the company had no comment to make on the council's decision.

Facility

Veolia had proposed to build an Energy-from-Waste facility on a portion of its landfill site at Wapseys Wood, near Gerrards Cross.

However, with that option now not available, the plant will either be built at WRG's operational landfill site at Calvert in the north-west of the county or a confidential site outside Buckinghamshire which has been earmarked by Covanta.

There were originally twelve companies in contention for the contract, but Buckinghamshire county council narrowed that to a shortlist of three in January 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story).

The council opted for thermal treatment as its preferred solution to deal with its residual household waste in January 2007, after examining a range of alternative technologies such as mechanical biological treatment (see letsrecycle.com story).

Development

Buckinghamshire achieved a 40.1% recycling and composting rate in 2006-07, and even though it is targeting an increase to 60% by 2025, Cllr Tett explained that quick development of the facility was still important.

“Even with excellent recycling we will still need EfW to treat leftover household waste which cannot be recycled. It remains essential we act quickly,” he said.

“If not we could face large fines for landfilling and this would raise council tax for every household in Buckinghamshire or result in cuts to vital services,” he added.

The council has indicated that the next steps for the tendering process will involve further negotiations with the two contenders, prior to them being invited to submit final tenders.

It hopes to announce a preferred bidder by the end of 2008, but has highlighted that the successful bidder will still have to apply for planning permission for their facility from the independent Development Control Committee.

Gerrards Cross

While Buckinghamshire's decision has put an end to the possibility of Veolia's Wapseys Wood site at Gerrards Cross being used for a household residual waste EfW plant, it could still be selected as a potential location for a waste recovery facility

The council could choose to name the site as a proposed Strategic Waste Complex for commercial waste recovery as part of its Minerals and Waste Core Strategy – a document which will set out the council's planning policies for waste management until 2026.

A draft version of the Strategy, which will also guide the final decision for the site of household waste EfW development, was put out for public consultation earlier this year.

However, any proposal to use the site to build a large-scale treatment plant looks set to arouse local opposition, with the minutes of the April 17 2008 meeting of South Buckinghamshire district council's Sustainable Development Policy Advisory Group stating that “Wapseys Wood is clearly an unacceptable site for major recovery facilities”.