Cumbria waste contract bids “too close to call”

A meeting of the county council's cabinet on Thursday could not decide between the proposals of Shanks and Waste Recycling Group for the 25-year contract.

” This way we can continue to talk to both companies about further developing their bids and it won't affect the start date of the contract. “
– Cllr Jack Richardson, Cumbria CC The council said it was “too close to call” between the “excellent” bids for the contract, which is likely to be worth at least 400 million.

The decision to appoint a preferred bidder had been expected to be made on Thursday, to be confirmed by a full meeting of the county council on June 29. But the county council said the decision will not come now before September 5.

The contract itself is due to start in 2007.

“Lucky”
Jack Richardson, cabinet spokesman on waste management, said: “We are in the lucky position of having two very good companies and two very good bids to choose between.

“We would have had to get into these negotiations with a preferred bidder anyway. This way we can continue to talk to both companies about further developing their bids and it won't affect the start date of the contract,” Cllr Richardson said.

The county council added that the extra time would help both Cumbria and its bidders to arrive at the “best deal possible”.

Bids
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).

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%.

Last week saw the county council opening a full public consultation on Cumbria's Minerals and Waste Development Framework. The Framework will identify potential sites for waste management and mineral extraction in the county until 2018.