Christmas comes early for SITA UK

In Northumberland the company has managed to bring to a close the rocky procurement process for its PFI contract with the county council, signing the 28-year deal some four months after being named preferred bidder.

Northumberland
The signing of the Northumberland deal puts an end to a difficult procurement process that at one point almost saw the county council abandoning the entire Private Finance Initiative (see letsrecycle.com story).

Per-Anders Hjort, chief executive at SITA UK, said: “We're delighted to have signed this contract with Northumberland just four months after being appointed preferred bidder. This underlines that SITA UK has the capability to deliver these complex contracts and to manage all of the issues and provide an effective solution for clients.”

With the pleasantries out of the way, SITA can now get on with its contracted agreement to reach a 45% recycling rate for Northumberland.

It will do this with a new state-of-the-art materials recycling facility and transfer station being developed on land at West Sleekburn Indusrial Estate. These will have 50,000 tonne and 70,000 tonne annual capacities respectively.

To divert residual waste from landfill, SITA is to extend the capabilities of the Tees Valley Energy from Waste facility, with construction due to begin immediately. Funding for new infrastructure is being provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Axa.

Councillor Bill Brookes, leader of Northumberland county council, said: “This new contract represents a new era for waste service in Northumberland and, with the help of 40.8 million in PFI credits from the government, will deliver a truly sustainable waste management service we can be proud of.”

He added: “The council has already made significant progress achieving a 29.4% recycling and composting rate in 2005, exceeding the national target of 25%.

Perth & Kinross
With its expressed intention to rely on “proven technology”, SITA is also building an energy-from-waste facility and materials recycling facility at its Binn Farm site to the south-east of Perth.

The company won permission from Perth & Kinross planners yesterday for the facilities, which will process 60,000 tonnes and 16,000 tonnes of waste each year respectively. This will divert waste away from the landfill facility at the Binn site, which currently takes in about 250,000 tonnes of waste from the Perth & Kinross area. Expected to be operational from 2013, the recovery plant is being designed to generate about 4.65MW of electricity for export to the national grid.

SITA said the project would create 150 jobs, including 50 permanent positions.

“We are delighted that the planning application for developments at Binn Farm has been approved,” said John Grainger, SITA UK general manager. “We will now begin the process of applying for a Pollution Prevention and Control permit from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.”

Planners on Perth & Kinross development control committee noted that SITA's proposals did not fit with the local Development Plan, while SEPA itself expressed reservations about the site choice. But planners ultimately decided that the local need for the facility, as well as the Local Waste Plan and regional strategy, justified the project.

Mr Grainger said: “Now that we have gained planning approval we don't intend to stop consulting and communicating with local communities, in fact if anything we are likely to intensify our community relations role. We hope that local residents will work with us to ensure that the next stages of development proceed well and to their satisfaction.”