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Cory poised to win £322m East London waste contract

The East London Waste Authority (ELWA) is set to award its residual waste contract to Cory Topco, worth an estimated £322 million.

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The waste authority will present the planned Contract Award recommendation to its Authority Members at a special meeting next Friday (18 July 2025).

If ratified by the members, the procurement will enter a standstill period of 10 days prior to confirmation of the contract award.

Andrew Lappage, managing director at ELWA, said: “Reaching the Contract Award decision stage for this first major procurement is an important and exciting milestone for ELWA.

“I would like to thank the bidders that have engaged with this procurement process, and look forward to concluding the final stages of the procurement following the standstill period this summer so that we can move into the mobilisation stage of our future residual waste treatment services.”

The ELWA’s current integrated contract is set to expire in 2027 having first been awarded to Renewi in 2002.

Biffa completed its acquisition of Renewi’s UK municipal operations in October last year following a capital investment of approximately £125 million.

The ELWA announced in 2023 that it planned to “disaggregate” the contract into several separate contracts following its expiration.

The procurement process for the Residual Waste Contract (RWC) was launched in July last year.

The contract is divided into three lots and is set to last for an initial period of ten years with extension provisions of up to five years – starting from late December 2027.

It is projected to see Cory – if the next steps are fulfilled – process 330,000 tonnes of residual waste annually.

A minimum tonnage has not been guaranteed to “maximise the value and opportunities” of the ongoing implementation of the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy and future Circular Economy Strategy.

Instead, bidders for each of the lots were offered exclusivity to a guaranteed percentage of the Authority’s residual waste and this is reflected in the different size of the three lots.

The ELWA is set to recommend all three lots go to Cory Topco.

If approved, residual waste will be transported by river from Cory’s under-development Barking site to its Riverside complex in Bexley for treatment.

Cory is in the process of constructing a second Energy from Waste (EfW) facility at the same site as part of the Riverside Energy Park project.

The estimated value of the contract is based on indicative annual tonnage and 1 April 2024 prices.

Future procurement

ELWA has recently announced the launch of its next procurement process in the process of replacing its existing long-term integrated contract.

Its Reception, Haulage, and Reuse & Recycling Centres Contract (RHRRC Contract) tender notice was published on 30 June, and future procurements will include treatment capacity contracts for dry recycling, food waste and garden waste.

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