In 2020 the authority hosted an engagement day with the waste management sector and subsequently opted to proceed with procuring a contract to move away from landfill after 2025.
Early requirements under the proposed new contract were for the provider to offer a solution which is “low cost, has reliable technology and is environmentally sensitive”.
Interest was signalled in the project from a number of waste management companies, with several identifying sites for energy from waste (EfW) plants or interested in taking waste to plants outside of Lancashire. These are thought to include Suez at Blackburn; Veolia at Heysham; Miller Turner, Preston; Biffa; and N+P Group.
Review
The move, however, is now on hold while the council reviews its waste processing strategy.
The previous strategy was published in 2008 and expired in 2020. The council said the next strategy will take into account parts of the Environment Act, which may impact waste composition.
A spokesman for Lancashire county council said: “We are reviewing our waste processing strategy in response to the Environment Act and emerging national policy.
“The outcome of these may impact waste composition and tonnages and as such these are important factors which need consideration.
“We hope to be able to finalise our outline strategy within the next couple of months.”
Landfill
The council currently sends most of its waste to the Whinney Hill landfill site operated by Suez, but this contract ends in 2025.
Waste is also sent to a variety of locations, including a materials recycling facility at Farington which handles about 30,000 tonnes of material and a plant at Leyland which processes about 60,000 tonnes of waste, then sent to Viridor for incineration at Runcorn.
An mechanical biological treatment process at Thornton produces volumes of compost-like output.
The county recorded a 44.6% recycling rate in 2020/21.
Contract
The council had previously approved plans to move forward with procurement of a contract.
At the time, in 2020, Lancashire said the contract would commence in April 2025 and may result in the private sector development of new waste treatment infrastructure within or outside of Lancashire, the utilisation of existing infrastructure nationally, or both.
The estimated value of the contract is in the region of £40 million per annum.
Global Renewables
With most large local authorities having contracts in place for residual waste treatment, Lancashire has always been a county with an element of uncertainty around its treatment route.
This is largely because it opted in 2006 for a £2 billion PFI-supported contract with Australia-linked Global Renewables as the then Labour-controlled county did not want to use an EfW plant or landfill (see letsrecycle.com story).
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