The contract is thought to cover around 260,000 tonnes of household material and will run for 10 years from April 2024, with an option to extend for another five.
When the contract begins, the contract will be sent to four companies for processing. These are:
- Cory, at its Belvedere plant in South East London
- Indaver, at the Rivenhall plant, Essex
- Veolia, Rookery South ERF
- Viridor, at its Ardley facility, Oxfordshire
Cory said in a release today that it will take around 100,000 tonnes per year. Veolia confirmed that its share of the residual waste will go to the Rookery South energy recovery facility which is in Bedfordshire. [updated 28 June]
Cllr Eric Buckmaster, Hertfordshire’s executive member for the environment, said: “We want to create a cleaner and greener environment in Hertfordshire, so being able to stop sending waste to landfill sites is really a significant step for us.
“Of course, we want to help our residents throw away less, and to reuse or recycle as much as possible, but we’re still left with around 250,000 tonnes a year that we need to dispose of, and these new contracts will help us do that in a more environmentally sustainable way.”
Chequered
Hertfordshire has a long and chequered history in its attempts to dispose of its residual waste. It had a range of disposal contracts in place until March with companies including with FCC Recycling UK, London Energy Ltd, Veolia, and Viridor (see letsrecycle.com story).
Veolia previously held a £1 billion contract with the council for the design, construction, financing, and operation of an EfW plant at New Barnfield, Hatfield, then for a facility at Rye House, Hoddesdon.
Following two planning applications, two public inquiries and two refusals from the Secretary of State, this contract was terminated in August 2019 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Cory
Cory explained in its statement that it will process the county’s waste at its plant in Belvedere, on the south bank of the Thames, where it will be converted to baseload electricity and recycled materials for use in roads and construction.
Cory will transport Hertfordshire’s residual waste by river via its waste transfer station in Barking.
Dougie Sutherland, Cory’s chief executive, said: “This is a significant contract for Cory, enabling us to process more waste from the wider South East region. We’re looking forward to working with Hertfordshire to help displace waste from landfill and inefficient EfW facilities to our site, which has a clear strategy to decarbonise society’s residual waste.”
The Rivenhall plant in Essex is yet to be built although construction work is planned. The deal is seen as particular significant for Indaver, as the award will potentially be an anchor contract for the plant, its first facility in England.
Hertfordshire
Representing an estimated population of nearly 1.2 million, Hertfordshire county council had a household waste recycling rate of 52.4% in the 2020/21 financial year, the most recent available data.
Hertfordshire issued a tender for the disposal of the region’s residual waste, estimated to be worth £454 million, in January 2022 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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