Defra has already given the councils the go-ahead to draw up plans for residual waste treatment facilities to secure Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding credits (see letsrecycle.com story).
Before doing so, the partnership has decided to launch a public consultation on its Draft Joint Municipal Waste Strategy to ask residents for their views, not only on residual waste treatment but also on recycling, composting, reuse and waste minimisation.
This is with the aim of diverting as much waste from landfill as possible and to increase recycling rates. In 2005/06 – the most recent year audited by Defra – the recycling rates for Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland – were 20%, 21% and 19% respectively. All three councils met government-set targets.
Project director Fiona Brown said: “Three councils are coming together to work in partnership and produce a joint strategy on an issue that will impact on everybody. This consultation process will help to deliver a more efficient service around the management and treatment of waste.
“We really want residents to have their say on how to handle rubbish in the future and help us come up with solutions that are more sustainable and better for the environment,” she added.
Options
It has assessed nine options for residual waste treatment using a range of criteria. These are:
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Anaerobic digestion (AD) of biodegradable wastes
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AD of all wastes
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Mechanical Biological Treatment with Refuse Derived Fuel to EfW
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MBT with RDF to landfill
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Autoclave
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EfW
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Alterative Thermal Treatment (ATT)
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Aerobic digestion
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EfW with CHP
In its consultation document, council officers said autoclaving – where waste is cooked at high temperatures was cost-effective, environmentally-friendly and had high recycling rates.
But, they did not looked “negatively” upon it because it has not yet been proven to work effectively in this country. ATT – which uses pyrolysis and gasification processes – posed problems for the same reason.
EfW was considered easier to deliver but officers pointed out that such facilities often attract public opposition although they did not rule it out.
AD was considered cost-effective, easily deliverable because it has already been proven to work and was said to be “one of the best performing options for waste recycling and composting, recovery and diversion of waste from landfill.” Officers found it performed “moderately well” against environmental criteria and “especially well” when it comes to energy consumption.
When it comes to recycling, the options put forward for public consideration include collecting kitchen waste, textiles, plastic and card at kerbside, as well as introducing a commercial recycling collection.
The consultation process ends on August 20, 2007.
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