Officially launched yesterday in Central London, the Demonstrator Programme aims to build ten new plants in England over the next two years using waste treatment technologies currently unproven at a commercial level in the UK (see letsrecycle.com story).
The programme is part of the Waste Implementation Programme, a wider range of government initiatives looking to divert biodegradable municipal waste from landfill in order to meet targets set out in the Landfill Directive.
Speaking at the launch, head of the WIP new technologies team David Brooks said that local authority involvement was important for projects in getting planning permission and sourcing waste.
“I have a number of scenarios in mind,” he said, “One of the main ones involves a new technology company working with a waste disposal authority and some waste collection authorities.”
The deadline for expressions of interest in the first funding round is April 9, 2004, but another round will open in September 2004. The fund is looking to support a range of technologies in a range of sizes, and those projects that are unsuccessful in the first round may be asked to re-submit in the second.
John Gallimore, project director for the programme managers RPS, emphasised that the fund is eager to get projects up and running as soon as possible. He said: “If you do not have access to a site this year, may we suggest that this year may not be for you, because you won't be able to turn your project around quickly enough.”
He added that it was important for projects to have at least initiated proceedings relating to planning permission, operating permits and the securing of a biodegradable waste source.
Research fund
Another component of the WIP funding programme for new technology closed last week for expressions of interest. The 2 million Technology Research and Innovation Fund aims to support research into new processes and technologies to divert more municipal waste from landfill in England. The bids received for fund will now undergo assessment by the Technical Advisory Committee.
The committee's chair, the head of environmental services at Barclays Bank, Peter Calliafas, said: “We have received 55 expressions of interest for the TRIF scheme alone. We will assess them to see if they are going to meet the statement aims and meet the objective.”
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