Veolia's proposals for the agreement, which has the promise of £40.8 million in Private Finance Initiative credits from Defra, include:
• Construction of an in-vessel composting facility
• Provision of an energy recovery plant in Battlefield Enterprise Park, Shrewsbury. This will process eventually process 90,000 tonnes of residual waste each year to export 8MW of electricity to power 10,000 homes. It is expected to be fully operational by 2012.
• Introducing a kerbside plastic bottle collection service by 2010. This plan comes just months after Veolia was named as the sole supplier of plastic bottles for Closed Loop London's new plant, which will recycle bottles into food grade packaging (see letsrecycle.com story).
• Construction of two new integrated waste management facilities in Oswestry by 2009 and Bridgnorth by 2010, which will include household recycling centres and waste transfer stations.
The company plans to increase Shropshire's recycling levels to 50% by 2012 and reduce the proportion of waste sent to landfill from 65% in 2005/06 to 5% in 2015. In the first year of the contract – 2007/08, around 180,000 tonnes of waste from 283,000 households will be collected, recycled, energy recovered or treated.
“Sustainable”
Shropshire Waste Partnership chairman, Councillor Joyce Barrow, said: “We believe that Veolia's proposals offer the best solution to dealing with Shropshire's waste in the most affordable and sustainable way.
“Veolia has a great deal of experience in this area and they have put forward exciting proposals to provide the best possible waste collection and disposal service to Shropshire residents, increase the amount of waste that is recycled in the county, and reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill sites,” she added.
The Shropshire Waste Partnership is the body responsible for collecting and disposing of household waste on behalf of the councils that are members. These include Bridgnorth District Council, North Shropshire District Council, Oswestry Borough Council, Shropshire County Council and South Shropshire District Council.
Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council is not a member of the SWP, although it remains to be seen how this will be affected by the county's bid for unitary status (see letsrecycle.com story).
The PFI contract is due to start on October 1, and the Partnership is undergoing final negotiations before the contract is signed. Veolia has said it will invest more than £100 million in waste infrastructure over the period of the contract.
Veolia Environmental Services chief executive Denis Gasquet added: “We have set out a comprehensive waste management strategy that puts the emphasis on improved recycling and will ensure by 2015 a substantial reduction in Shropshire's waste that is sent to landfill.
“We believe that this forward-looking and sustainable proposal will also maximise value for money through the integrated collection, recycling and treatment of waste on behalf of the Shropshire Waste Partnership and look forward to concluding negotiations in due course.”
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