GIB invests £200m in waste projects in first two years

The initiative, which was set up with around £3 billion of government funding in 2012, identified waste as one of its priority sectors – with a specific team set up within the GIB aimed at identifying investment opportunities within the waste sector.

Originally headed by Adrian Judge and now under the stewardship of former investment banker Chris Holmes – GIB’s waste and bio-energy team has funded a series projects in the sector, primarily energy-from-waste and anaerobic digestion.

Funding

The Bank’s aim is to attract private funding for projects, with GIB funding intended to act as an incentive for private sector investors to step in.

Notable waste projects that have received funding from GIB include TEG’s Dagenham AD plant, which received a total of £2 million, as well as £7.5 million for a 30,000 tonnes per year capacity AD and composting site at Enfield, Hertfordshire.

The GIB has also stepped in to fund several projects for which Defra withdrew financial support, including the Merseyside Waste PFI – and has been at loggerheads with the Department over the need for additional waste capacity in the UK (see letsrecycle.com story).

While investment in the waste sector, and particularly local authority PFI projects have been welcomed, critics of the GIB have said that the Bank has failed in its aim to ‘increase sophistication’ in technology, instead focusing on established technologies such as incinerators and anaerobic digestion.

[testimonial id = “71” align=”right”]

‘Challenging’

To date the GIB has invested a total of £1.6 billion in 37 projects across all sectors, and aims to identify ‘complex and challenging’ projects which need investment to go ahead.

Marking the GIB’s second anniversary today (October 31) Prime Minister David Cameron, said: “Under this government, as part of our long-term economic plan to back business, create more jobs and secure a brighter future for Britain, we have become one of the best places for green investment anywhere in the world – and the Green Investment Bank has played an instrumental role in this.

“Their achievements tell their own story – in just two years, getting 37 green infrastructure projects underway in the UK, committing more than £1.6 billion and mobilising a total of £5.2 billion, and creating thousands of jobs.

“I’m delighted to congratulate GIB on its second birthday.”