Central Bedfordshire council has named Covanta Energy on a four-bidder shortlist for its long-term waste contract in a move which has surprised some in the sector due its previous criticism of the American energy-from-waste specialists plans to build an EfW facility in the area.
The council was one of the most vocal opponents of Covantas plans to develop a 580,000 tonne-a-year capacity facility at a site at Rookery Pit in Stewartby when they first emerged in November 2008.
Central Bedfordshire claimed that the Covanta proposal impeded its own efforts to develop a smaller scale energy-from-waste facility in the region (see letsrecycle.com story).
Its concerns intensified when Buckinghamshire county council named Covantas proposals as preferred option for treating its residual household waste, despite the site actually being located within the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire (see letsrecycle.com story).
But, Central Bedfordshire today (May 26) sought to distance itself from its previous issues with the energy-from-waste specialist as it named Covanta on the shortlist for what it has dubbed the Bedfordshire Energy and Recycling (BEaR Project).
In full, the four bidder shortlist named today includes:
- American energy-from-waste specialist Covanta Energy;
- Organics recycling and renewable energy specialist New Earth Solutions;
- French-owned waste management firm Veolia Environmental Services;
- And, Taunton-based company Viridor.
Defending Covantas inclusion, councillor Budge Wells, deputy executive member for sustainable communities said: It is important that residents do not confuse the BEaR Project with any other planning application. In short, the BEaR Project is a concept of how to deal with the waste created within Central Bedfordshire in the future.
All four shortlisted applicants will be assessed purely on the solutions and business case they put forward for dealing with waste and delivering other project objectives.
There is still some way to go before we reach a final decision and to allow for a thorough and objective assessment of all the options open to us we are retaining a neutral view regarding particular technologies or sites for the moment.
Decision
Cllr Wells stressed that Central Bedfordshire would not make the final decision on whether Covanta couls develop the Rookery Pit facility but noted that it was involved as a statutory consultee.
He said this mean that it has a duty to the community and to the environment to ensure that the proposal is robustly examined and challenged and that the communities affected are widely consulted and their views taken into account in the decision making process.”
The council said it had received a wide of technologies proposed for the BEaR shortlist, including mechanical biological treatment, in-vessel composting, anaerobic digestion and windrow composting. This was alongside a proposal for energy-from-waste.
The council was unable to specify which bidder had proposed which technology but said further details on the bidders and the proposed treatment methods would be issued in June 2011.
Contract
A successful bidder will be expected to deliver 75,000 tonnes-a-year of treatment capacity under the 25-to-30 year contract. The council expects to name a preferred bidder for the deal in the summer of 2012.
In addition to providing a long-term residual waste treatment solution, a successful bidder will also be charged with redeveloping household waste recycling centres at Ampthill, Biggleswade and Leighton Buzzard, as well as relocating the Dunstable site.
And, the contract winner will also have to provide strategic locations for salt storage barns and also provide treatment for organic waste streams.
The bidders set to miss out on the BEaR Project deal are bids led by AmeyCespa, Northampton-based Waste Recycling Group and the Interserve Investments Limited consortium, which were all named among the seven-bidder shortlist announced in October 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Set-backs
The BEaR Project has suffered several set-backs over the course of its existence. The Project was initially conceived as a three-council partnership, with Luton and Bedford borough councils both opting to withdraw due to concerns over the affordability of the proposal (see letsrecycle.com story).
Costs have been a recurrent issue for the BEaR Project, with having two separate applications for PFI credits rejected by the government (see letsrecycle.com story).
Despite these delays, Central Bedfordshire voted to pursue the contract by itself in April 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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