Central Bedfordshire can now begin the process to select a more environmentally friendly waste solution for its communities
Cllr Budge Wells, Central Bedfordshire council
The tender for the contract, which is set to run for between 20 and 35 years, was published last week (May 25) in the Official Journal of the European Union by the project's lone remaining member, Central Bedfordshire council, and is intended to supply a treatment solution to cater for up to 75,000 tonnes-a-year over the course of the deal.
The contract notice does not specify a waste treatment technology but includes ancillary works and services a bidder may look to include in their application, which are: an organic waste processing facility; a waste transfer station; redevelopment to the four household waste and recycling centres; and, a highways depot.
Commenting on the contract notice, councillor Budge Wells, spokesperson for the BEaR Project said: “Central Bedfordshire can now begin the process to select a more environmentally friendly waste solution for its communities.”
“We must find alternative ways to dispose of the waste that is not recycled, in order to meet government targets, avoid rapidly increasing landfill taxes and possible fines in the future and reduce the authority's carbon footprint.”
The BEaR project was originally conceived as a means of catering for around 250,000 tonnes-a-year of municipal waste from Central Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton borough councils and it had been anticipated that the partnership was seeking to develop an energy-from-waste facility in the region.
However, Bedford withdrew from the project in September 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), followed shortly by Luton in December 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), with both councils concerned about the escalating cost of the project. Despite the withdrawal of the partners, Central Bedfordshire vowed to continue with the development.
Funding for the BEaR project had also proven an issue, with an initial bid for £109.9 million in PFI funding being rejected in March 2009 and Defra then rejecting a second bid, this time for £79 million, in January 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
A value was not attached to the contract and applications are being accepted until July 19 2010, with Central Bedfordshire expecting between three and eight bidders to come forward.
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