Although the county has said Cambridge-based Donarbon has not been awarded preferred bidder status for the contract, it did confirm entering a period of negotiation with the company regarding its bid.
” Reducing the amount of rubbish that is landfilled through reducing, reusing and recycling is vital. Waste treatment technologies also have a part to play in reducing the use of landfill. “
– Cllr John Reynolds, Cambridgeshire CC
Cambridgeshire officers said the in-depth talks would be held until September, when the council would either name Donarbon as preferred bidder or decide to re-consider the other two shortlisted bids, from Shanks and Waste Recycling Group.
The county said of its announcement: “This does not rule out either of the other two bidders at this stage.”
Donarbon – part of the family-owned building products firm Dickerson Group – is proposing to use mechanical biological treatment (MBT) technology to treat residual waste from Cambridgeshire households.
Contract
The contract, which is to start in April 2007, is being supported by 35 million in government credits through the PFI scheme. The contract includes designing, building and managing new treatment plants.
Although Cambridgeshire is at the top of the English recycling league with a recycling rate of 37% in 2004/05, it must still cut the amount of biodegradable waste it sends to landfill from 145,772 tonnes (2005/06) to 51,099 tonnes by 2020. Failing to do so would mean government fines under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme.
Councillor John Reynolds, Cambridgeshire's cabinet member for environment and community services, said: “The amount of rubbish that Cambridgeshire people produce continues to grow and with thousands of new homes due to be built, it will only increase further.
“Reducing the amount of rubbish that is landfilled through reducing, reusing and recycling is vital. Waste treatment technologies also have a part to play in reducing the use of landfill as well as preventing Cambridgeshire being fined by government for exceeding its targets. We look forward to talking to Donarbon and exploring a number of issues associated with their proposals,” he added.
Donarbon
Donarbon, which has its head office at a waste management park at Waterbeach, just to the north of Cambridge, started out in 1969 as a skip hire firm and to landfill material from its parent company's mineral extraction activities.
The company runs an in-vessel composting facility at the Waterbeach site to treat garden waste and food waste under a five-year contract with Cambridgeshire county council that started in 2002.
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Donarbon is proposing to establish an MBT plant, which will see black bag waste subjected to physical separation techniques to recover recyclable material and biological composting to stabilise remaining waste.
Commenting on the PFI announcement, Donarbon's managing director Mark Davenport said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the council during this period of detailed negotiation to further refine our proposal.”
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