Cumbria nears decision on long-term waste partner

The council has told letsrecycle.com it is expecting to choose between Waste Recycling Group and Shanks Group at some point this summer.

Cumbria must cut landfilling of biodegradable waste from 171,000 tonnes a year to just 51,000 tonnes a year by 2020

An enquiry is currently underway at the council to look at different treatment options for biodegradable waste, with recommendations expected to be presented to the council's cabinet in June. This should coincide with a decision over which company to appoint as preferred bidder.

The two shortlisted bidders for the contract are each proposing different technologies for the treatment of Cumbria's residual waste. WRG is putting forward a bid centring around energy-from-waste incineration, while Shanks is proposing an option led by mechanical biological treatment (MBT).

CWM
The decision to award the contract should have an impact on the council-owned waste disposal company Cumbria Waste Management. The company may be acquired by the successful bidder for the long-term contract, but as Cumbria assesses the final offers from WRG and Shanks, the possibility that CWM may not be bought is still on the table.

Both bidding companies have a presence in the area already, with WRG acquiring Cumbrian trade waste management company Alco Waste Management last year (see letsrecycle.com story) and Shanks running the PFI contract across the border in Dumfries & Galloway.

Justin Hawkins, spokesman for the council, said: “We expect to make a decision on choosing a private sector partner in the summer and hope to begin working with them in 2007.”

Targets
Every year in Cumbria over 340,000 tonnes of domestic waste is thrown away. Under Defra's Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme, the county must reduce the amount of biodegradable waste it sends to landfill from 171,647 tonnes to just 51,422 tonnes by 2020. Last year, the county achieved a household recycling rate of 17%.

Mr Hawkins said Cumbria has met its 2005/06 targets, but has yet to finalise how many credits it is carrying into the current year.

Prior to the new long-term waste management contract starting in 2007, Cumbria has already started a 2 million programme to refurbish some of its household waste recycling centres.

The first phase has already taken place, with a 500,000 upgrade of the Flusco site, which has been expanded to four times its original size. It is expected the upgrade will take the site's recycling rate from just 9% of waste taken in to above 50%.

Mr Hawkins said: “We have set aside 2 million for refurbishing main recycling centres in the county. We expect to spend 500,000 on each of the four but we have yet to make a decision on which four.”

This month has also seen a county-wide poster, press and radio campaign getting underway to encourage Cumbrian householders to recycle their waste. The campaign is run by Resource Cumbria, the strategic waste partnership made up of the county council and six district councils in Cumbria.