Calderdale council in West Yorkshire is set to begin procuring for two waste and recycling contracts in September, with its current deals set to expire within the next two years.
The announcement this week (July 29) follows the collapse of the councils joint energy-from-waste (EfW) project with Bradford metropolitan district council after Defra withdrew 62.1 million funding for the proposed Bowling Back Lane incinerator in February 2013.
The Bradford facility, which would have treated 193,000 tonnes of waste per year from the two authorities, was due to be operational by 2016.
The two councils reached an out-of-court settlement with Defra earlier this year over the Departments decision to cancel infrastructure credits towards the 25-year contract, for which preferred bidders had been a consortium of FCC Environment and Skanska (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, Defras withdrawal of funding led to the cancellation of the project and Calderdale council is now seeking a longer-term solution for waste treatment in the region when its current interim waste treatment contracts put in place before the EFW project collapse expire in 2015.
Under its interim deals, Yorkshire-based Associated Waste Management processes the majority of Calderdales waste into a refuse derived fuel (RDF) after it is put through its materials recycling facility (MRF) in Morley, near Leeds. A small amount of waste is also sent to Envirowaste part of the Leo Group Ltd on Swalesmoor Road, Halifax.
Bradford is also set to begin its own waste treatment procurement process early next year, with its current deal set to expire in 2017.
Collection
‘Were starting this process now, so we can take time assessing all of the information and considering a number of options before making a decision.’
Calderdale councillor Barry Collins
In addition, Calderdales current deal agreed with SITA UK in 2008 for waste and recycling collections, transport to disposal points and the operation of the councils household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) comes to an end in 2016, so it is seeking a new contract.
The council said it now has one of the highest recycling rates in the country 61.61% in 2012/13 as a result of major changes in the way waste is collected in the region since 2008. As a result, it is proposed that a new collection contract would involve a lesser degree of change.
According to the council, after waste is collected, it is transferred into larger vehicles at Calderdales waste transfer station site in Halifax, before being transported to waste disposal facilities elsewhere.
Therefore, it said: Due to the limited storage capacity at this site, it is essential that a fast, reliable waste management and disposal system exists.
The council is seeking to start procurement for the two contracts waste treatment in September this year after cabinet members agreed at a meeting on July 14 that the process needed to begin shortly.
Time
The council said it was looking at future plans for the services now in order to ensure that there is plenty of time for the procurement process.
Calderdale councillor Barry Collins, cabinet member for economy and environment, said: The time has come where we need to look at the future of waste services in Calderdale. This is an issue which affects every household in the borough, so its important that we get it right.
Were starting this process now, so we can take time assessing all of the information and considering a number of options before making a decision.
Bradford
Meanwhile, after the collapse of the Bowling Back Lane EfW project, Bradford council is also seeking to begin procurement for a long term solution for its waste treatment, although its current contract runs until 2017.
Steve Hartley, Bradford councils interim strategic director for environment and sport, said: We have a contract to deal with our residual waste up to March 2017. We are currently reviewing our waste strategy and will be looking to start procurement of a residual waste solution for 2017 onwards early next year.
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