Essex Waste Partnership awarded 100.9m in PFI credits

The partnership will create a real incentive for the local authorities and industry to work together to reduce waste

 
Dan Norris MP

The partnership – which is made up Essex county council, 12 district councils and Southend-on-Sea borough council – has already secured a site for the facility to be built on Courtauld Road in Basildon, with appropriate planning permission.

However, while the site and MBT technology were included in the Outline Business Case submitted to Defra for the funding, the partnership has stressed that a final decision on both are yet to be made as part of the procurement process.

Announcing the funding, which is only the second waste PFI award to be made in the current financial year, environment minister Dan Norris welcomed the “ambitious commitment” to build new infrastructure.

He added: “The partnership will create a real incentive for the local authorities and industry to work together to reduce waste and create jobs, as well as reducing the environmental impact of landfill.”

The partnership aims to use the new facilities to divert an additional 185,000 tonnes of waste a year from landfill by 2020, as well as working towards a 60% recycling rate by the same date.

And, Essex county council's cabinet member for environment and waste, Tracey Chapman, claimed today's announcement represented another major step in the county's “waste revolution”.

“The costs of disposing of our waste are rising to horrendous levels but we have taken the initiative in Essex and now our efforts have national backing we know we can make a difference,” she said.

Incineration

In its Outline Business Case, which was submitted to Defra in June 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), the Partnership stressed that the planning permission it had in place for Courtauld Road does not allow for incineration.

Instead, it allows for a 565,000 tonne-a-year capacity development involving MBT, anaerobic digestion, in-vessel composting and a materials recycling facility.

The Essex Waste Partnership is now set to issue a contract notice to prospective bidders in the Official Journal of the European Union next month, with the aim of getting new facilities up-and-running by 2014 or 2015.