EfW on the cards for Warwickshire as new strategy launched

The strategy, which has already been adopted by district councils, seeks to divert most of the county's annual 300,000 tonnes of municipal waste from landfill by 2020.

” Energy-from-waste is in our strategy, but we are going to maximise the recycling first so that we reach 40 to 45% by 2009/10“
– Kalen Wood, Warwickshire council
Research behind the document names energy-from-waste incineration as the best option for treating residual waste in the county, suggesting sites in Nuneaton or Stratford-upon-Avon.

But, the county council has told letsrecycle.com that before an incinerator is developed, Warwickshire will push towards a target recycling rate of between 40 and 45%.

Kalen Wood, waste management project manager at Warwickshire, said: “Energy-from-waste is in our strategy, but we are going to maximise the recycling first so that we reach 40 to 45% by 2009/10.”

Ms Wood said the county would now be looking into possible funding routes for the strategy, which could see new treatment infrastructure funded through the Private Finance Initiative, Public Private Partnerships Programme or via prudential borrowing.

Under the government's strict landfill targets, by 2020 Warwickshire will be able to landfill no more than 52,897 tonnes of biodegradable waste each year. It is estimated that by that time, the county will be generating an annual 204,000 tonnes of paper, wood and organic municipal waste.

Approach
Research carried out by government-backed consultants AEA Technology suggested that the best option for Warwickshire would be to establish fortnightly green waste and recycling collections with residual waste collections also moving to fortnightly.

The plans would require the construction of major new infrastructure, including in-vessel composting facilities. But, AEA Technology advised against a mechanical biological treatment route, warning of a “limitation” in the “composting of the organic fraction, i.e. it does not produce any energy and it may be difficult to find an end market for the final product”.

For residual waste, AEA Technology said the most cost effective approach for the county would be to set up an incinerator capable of processing about 230,000 tonnes of material each year from 2011/12.

The consultants suggested a suitable site for the plant would be in Judkins, in the district of Nuneaton & Bedworth. Perhaps ironically, this was one of the first districts in the UK to abandon fortnightly residual waste collections because it was unpopular with residents (see letsrecycle.com story).

Another possible site for an incinerator was named as Southam, in the district of Stratford-upon-Avon. However, Ms Wood insisted that “we haven't identified a site yet”. She said developing such a project would be a “very long, drawn-out project”, adding: “We don't expect anything will be in place much before 2013”.

The proposals within Warwickshire's waste strategy have already attracted the opposition of the local Friends of the Earth group in Nuneaton, which has attacked the county council's consultation process.

The process of implementing the new municipal waste strategy has been enveloped in some confusion, because the county is also consulting on its Waste Development Framework. This is a document concentrating largely on planning issues for the management of all wastes – not just municipal waste – and is to replace the existing Waste Local Plan from about 2009/10.

Civil engineering firm Arup plc has been brought in to lead the consultation on the Waste Development Framework.