In 2009, the Welsh Government embarked on an ambitious food waste recycling programme, which saw local authorities come together to form five procurement hubs to jointly procure food waste treatment capacity. Ceredigion and Powys formed the Central Wales Waste Partnership (CWWP).
The partners of CWWP are the first Welsh hub to sign a contract under the Welsh Government programme, despite being the last hub to start the procurement process.
Agrivert will start recycling central Wales food waste via anaerobic digestion (AD) in November this year. The waste will be used to produce renewable electricity and digestate for use as fertiliser in agriculture.
The waste will initially be transported by local haulier, Mansel Davies & Son, to Agriverts AD facility in Oxfordshire. The councils said that when they considered the environmental impact of Agriverts proposal, the environmental benefits, in terms of renewable energy and fertiliser generation, were found to significantly outweigh the carbon footprint caused by the transport. Both the CWWP and Agrivert eventually hope to develop more localised treatment facilities.
Agriverts chief executive, Alexander Maddan, said: We are delighted to have signed this 15 year contract with the authorities. Over the last year we have worked very hard to develop a solution for the hub. We are proud that this is not only the first hub to sign a food waste recycling contract but it will also be the first to deliver services.
Huw Morgan, director of Ceredigions highways, property and works department, and officer responsible for the project, said: The contract that has been negotiated not only offers great value for tax payers but also has significant environmental benefit. During the procurement we have developed an excellent relationship with Agrivert which we look forward to continuing and strengthening over the next 15 years.
Agrivert was named as preferred bidder for the Central Wales waste deal in March 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Powys is currently in the process of introducing kerbside food waste collections and Ceredigion rolled out the service countywide in November 2010 following a successful two year trial in Aberystwyth.
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