Joel Hull, the council's project manager for the residual waste treatment contract, told letsrecycle.com that the council was now “expecting approval” for PFI credits in March this year.
The main focus was that we had made assumptions that outputs for MBT would find beneficial use but found out this was a little optimistic and could go to landfill
Joel Hull, Norfolk county council
The council originally said in April 2008 that it was hoping to advertise the residual waste treatment contract on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) by the autumn. Now, Mr Hull said, “the focus is on getting towards the OJEU in April” 2009.
Mr Hull told letsrecycle.com that the council had changed its reference project in the outline business case because “we realised it was in our best interests to revisit the choice of business case”.
He explained that uncertainty over finding markets for the output of MBT had led the council to alter its original bid, commenting: “The main focus was that we had made assumptions that outputs for MBT would find beneficial use but found out this was a little optimistic and could go to landfill.”
Mr Hull said the council believed that there was a “reduced appetite for MBT” and that councils and banks were “looking at it a bit more cautiously”.
He added that the new bid was “solid” and the “expectation is that we are going to be approved in March.”
He said: “We have submitted a very solid business case and have been working very closely with Defra to meet the timetable. We are providing an excellent site for the use of a prospective bidder.”
PFI
Norfolk county council has now applied for £77 million worth of PFI credits, up from the £72.4 million it estimated was required for the original bid.
The project, which is known as “Contract B”, is being developed to process over 155,000 tonnes per year of residual waste from Norfolk. The council has indicated it will offer a site on the Saddlebow Industrial Estate in Kings Lynn to potential bidders (see letsrecycle.com story).
The council has already begun work on its 'Contract A' which will see Sustainable Resource Management (SRM) build a £500 million MBT plant at Costessey, Norfolk, to process 150,000 tonnes of residual waste. Contract A is due to achieve financial close in spring this year and is expected to be operational by 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Currently 410,000 tonnes per year of municipal solid waste is produced in Norfolk. It has a recycling rate of 38%.
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