Essex Waste Partnership lays out PFI timetable

The Partnership – which consists of Essex county council (ECC), the 12 district borough councils of Essex, and the unitary authority Southend-on-Sea borough council – has been seeking PFI funding from Defra since 2007, based around a reference project of two MBT plants, and other biowaste treatment facilities.

However, due to changes in Defra guidance and difficulty in securing a site for the second MBT plant, a spokesman for ECC told letsrecycle.com that the partnership had been forced to revise its Outline Business Case and was hoping for a decision on the new application in October – after which it would go out to tender.

The new OBC is based around the development of a single MBT plant capable of handling 350,000 tonnes of waste a year, to be located at a site which already has planning permission in Basildon. The Partnership is seeking £100.9 million towards the capital costs of the plant.

The spokesman explained that the Partnership would ask contractors to see if the single site solution was workable, or if another MBT plant would be needed.

He said: “The bid is being fully prepared at the moment; we will have a decision in October as to whether it has been successful. The bidder process will then start right away, and we will conduct market testing with prospective contractors to see if the single site solution is able or if we need to expand to more sites.”

MBT 

MBT is a process which mechanically separates recyclables from waste, before breaking down the organic fragments, removing most of the biological activity in the waste, making it stable and leading to it giving off fewer harmful gases when landfilled.

The county council claims that, if the MBT facility is not built, there will be an estimated 350,000 tonnes of household waste which could not be recycled in the region, and due to rising taxes, could not be landfilled either.

Landfill Tax is increasing every year; last year alone the EWP was taxed approximately £14.2 millon, whilst there are also fines in place for every tonne of biodegradable waste above current government limits.

County councillor Tracey Chapman, Essex county council's cabinet minister for environment & waste said: “The cost of sending waste to landfill is increasing rapidly, so by employing a strategy that looks to reduce the amount of waste that gets sent to landfill we are ensuring that our residents aren't facing huge bills through their Council Tax further down the line.”