Cardiff awards composting deal to New Earth

Starting from this week, the arrangement will see New Earth process the waste at its in-vessel composting facility at Sharpness in Gloucestershire. There is also the option for three month extensions for up to a further three years.

At the Sharpness facility, which New Earth acquired from Bioganix in February 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), rotating drum in-vessel composting technology is used to process and pasteurise organic waste in line with the Animal By-Product Regulations.

The award of the interim contract will assist Cardiff council in meeting its landfill diversion and recycling targets whilst providing it the opportunity to formulate a long term treatment strategy.

The council had been procuring an organic waste treatment facility to be located at its Lamby Way site, but due to recent policy changes and the need to consider different technologies and collection methods, it has now abandoned this exercise and is instead developing a new strategy and Outline Business Case (OBC) for organic waste treatment.

Minutes from a meeting on July 27, at which the council decided to award the contract, said: “The bid submitted was the most economically advantageous tender, enabling the council to continue to process the collected domestic and commercial organic waste.”

Commenting on the award, New Earth managing director, Chris Cox, said “New Earth is pleased to support Cardiff Council in this project – ‘Recycling Together'. We continue to grow and add new local authority customers, recycling and diverting biodegradable waste that would otherwise go for landfill.”

Kerbside

Cardiff has been collecting food waste weekly at the kerbside since 2008, when it became one of the first UK cities to provide the service to all residents (see letsrecycle.com story).

Since then, the waste had been treated at Vital Earth's in-vessel composting facility in Derbyshire which, but this contract came to an end on August 4.

The relative proximity of the New Earth facility has been cited as one of the advantages of the deal – helping to further cut down emissions.

Compost from the Sharpness facility is already used by a large number of farmers as a soil conditioner and the addition of the Cardiff material will help NES meet an increasing demand for its recycled compost. New Earth will also make the compost available to the council for use within suitable projects.

Councillor Margaret Jones from Cardiff council said: “I am delighted this contract will enable us to make further CO2 reductions when compared to landfill, while also proving more economically advantageous.”