But, the deadline for the black bin waste project may be extended tomorrow by the council, with Material Works revealing it is to start work soon on a demonstrator plant and that it is also in discussions about a site for a full-scale processing plant.
The Chester-based company officially has until December 13 to meet conditions in the 16-year contract, signed in December 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story), to treat 30,000 tonnes of residual waste and 5,000 tonnes of food waste from households in the borough.
Material Works announced in January 2014 that it had secured £100 million funding to construct the “groundbreaking” facility in King’s Lynn, but progress on the project has since been slow and the firm is yet to apply for planning permission. Now the company and several councillors are seeking an extension to the deal.
The proposed plant in addition to handling household residual and food waste, is also designed to process a further 35,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste.
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk borough council’s cabinet is to meet tomorrow (November 4). On the agenda is a publicly-exempt item listed as ‘Material Works Update – Black Bin Recycling Contract Update’.
The council declined to comment ahead of the cabinet meeting, but council documents state that ‘progress has been slower than anticipated’ on the contract.
And, it is expected that a report will go to the cabinet meeting to ask councillors ‘if the contract should be extended as it was clear that Material Works would not be able to fulfil all of the conditions within the contract before it was due to come to an end’.
Concerns
According to council documents, concerns were raised about the progress made on the Material Works contract by councillors at a committee meeting in October, with councillor Mike Tilbury seeking ‘assurance that alternatives were being looked at’.
At the meeting, councillor Brian Long, portfolio holder for the environment, explained that alternative providers had been looked at but ‘they had either not met the criteria for recycling or had been too expensive’.
Council minutes also state that councillor Long felt that ‘if Material Works could deliver the facility, under an extended time frame, the council should continue to work with them as currently there were no other options available for West Norfolk’, adding that there was ‘the potential in the future to work with other local authorities’.
The minutes also reveal that planning permission has been submitted and permits and licences obtained for a demonstrator plant of the proposed facility, although terms and contracts for the main plant ‘were in the process of being agreed and would be subject to relevant planning permissions’.
Material Works
A Material Works spokesman told letsrecycle.com this week that building a demonstrator plant was the “first thing that will happen and that is very quick”.
The spokesman also confirmed that a site has been identified for the full facility in King’s Lynn and that negotiations were currently taking place with landowners.
Material Works Ltd has since February 21 2014 been listed as a ‘non trading’ company, but a new company – Material Works (Norfolk) Ltd – was incorporated on March 19 2014, with Robert Billson as director and Richard Douglas Fellows as company secretary.
Technology
Managing director of Material Works, Robert Billson, previously told letsrecycle.com in January that the bulk of the £100 million funding had been secured from a UK-based funder – Pan Eurasia – with Sri Lankan connections and that he hoped to start constructing the plant in early summer 2014.
The plant will treat black bag waste using ‘Saltus’ and ‘Trinity’ processes combined with anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce construction products and other materials, but concerns have previously been raised by some – including Norfolk county councillors – that Material Works’ proposals include “untried and untested technology at an as yet unknown site” (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Billson has said that the facility will deliver recycling rates in excess of 90% from residual waste and expects to charge around £55 per tonne in gate fees for feedstock. The facility could generate up to 200 jobs.
Register for free to comment