Essex county council revealed yesterday that its district and unitary council partners are to take a step forward in deciding the level of integration and structure of future contracts worth billions of pounds in March 2004.
Essex county council is currently working with its 12 districts and two unitary authorities – Thurrock and Southend – on the waste strategy to handle 850,000 tonnes of waste a year.
”This project is going to cover a generation, on the time scale we are thinking about, and with the cost going to run into the billions it is important to get it right“
– David Tuthill, Essex council waste project manager
A framework document produced by the partnership last year indicated that the strategy and will include a 60% recycling target. Hopes are that the county will achieve this though “intensive kerbside collections” and the use of anaerobic digestion or a similar mechanical biological treatment (MBT) for residual waste.
Following delays in the decision making process, the full Essex waste strategy is now due to be published in autumn 2004 after it has been agreed by all the partners.
When published, the strategy will show the direction and level of integration the waste management contracts are likely to take in Essex. The county council is looking to have 20-30-year waste contracts in place by the time existing arrangements expire in 2007.
David Tuthill, waste project manager at Essex county council, told letsrecycle.com that working with such a large number of councils has made it difficult to make decision. But he said: “By the autumn of this year we need to have decided exactly what it is we are going for in the long term arrangements so we can start the procurement process next year.”
“This project is going to cover a generation, on the time scale we are thinking about, and with the cost going to run into the billions it is important to get it right,” Mr Tuthill added.
Integration
To ease the decision process, the Essex partnership has been divided into three regions – East and West Essex and Thames Gateway – to work together on determining what route they want to take on the long term contract.
Mr Tuthill said: “What we have got to establish this year is how the local authorities want to work together.”
”This project is going to cover a generation, on the time scale we are thinking about, and with the cost going to run into the billions it is important to get it right“
– Mr Tuthill He explained that there are three main forms the waste management contract could take; a single contract covering collection and disposal; a separate collection contract for each of the three regions to interact with the county's disposal contract; or continue with collection contracts for each district, making the interface with the county's disposal contract more complex.
“Vertical integration is something we think is worth pursuing but that is a decision for each partner in the project and it is something we are asking the local authorities to consider,” said Mr Tuthill, “We have a skeleton (the framework strategy) but we need to know what kind of animal we are trying to build.”
Disposal
The largest pressure on Essex county council is the targets set out in the Waste and Emissions Trading Act for the diversion of biodegradable waste from landfill. As the disposal authority, Essex council has decided to go for MBT or anaerobic digestion to meet these targets.
Visits have already been made to large scale MBT plants on the continent but no decision has been made as to which technology the county wants to use. However, Essex county council has made the decision not to include incineration in its waste strategy or contract.
” This is a difficult enough project and if we chose to go down the incineration route it would make a difficult project impossible “
– Mr Tuthill Mr Tuthill explained: “We know there are lots of people out there that are very concerned about incineration and there are people out there who are comfortable with the solution. But the particular view was taken that this is a difficult enough project and if we chose to go down the incineration route it would make a difficult project impossible and there are other technologies out there that could provide the solution and that people find more acceptable.”
Because the new contracts are due to be signed in 2007 and there will be long planning and construction processes, he admitted that Essex might be “up against” its landfill diversion targets for 2010 in terms of getting the new technology on line.
In terms of recycling, Essex county council exceeded its government target for 2003-04 of 22% a year early and expects to report a recycling rate of 26% this year. The county has also received 5 million in funding from DEFRA, which Mr Tuthill said makes the 33% target for 2005-06 achievable. The funding will go on a variety of projects including developing recycling in the districts, a waste awareness campaign and work with the voluntary sector.
Essex county council hopes to work with DEFRA to explore the issues associated with the long term contract and whether the waste management industry can deliver Essex's objectives.
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