London to receive black bag waste from Bedfordshire

The waste management firm announced this week that it has won two contracts to process up to a total of 76,000 tonnes of waste per year from Bedford borough council and Central Bedfordshire council, following a joint procurement process.

The waste will be treated at Shanks Frog Island Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facility in East London, where recyclables will be removed before it is broken down organically, with the remainder used as a solid recovered fuel (SRF). The firm said this is the first time waste from outside London has been treated at the plant.

The Frog Island site predominantly treats waste under Shanks’ contract with the East London Waste Disposal Authority.

The deal with Bedford borough council is worth 25 million andwill run forsix years.It involves the treatement of up to50,000 tonnes of residual wasteper annum. Meanwhile, the contract with Central Bedfordshire runs for two-and-a-half yearsand involves the treatment of26,000 tonnes of residual waste every year. The contracts both begin on October 1 2012.

The contracts were previously held by SITA UK, with the majority of waste being sent to landfill in Northampton. The councils inherited the contracts from Bedfordshire county council, which was disbanded in 2009 when unitary councils were introduced across the county.

Shanks beat a host of other waste management companies to the contracts, including: SITA UK; Biffa; AmeyCespa; and, Veolia.

Savings

Bedford borough council has also renewed its MRF sorting contract with Viridor, following a tender process. The recyclables will continue to be sorted at its materials recycling facility (MRF) in Milton Keynes. Viridor is expected to handle between 22,000 and 33,000 tonnes of material per annum.

Dry recyclables in Bedford borough are collected commingled on a fortnightly basis in an orange-lidded wheeled bin. Green waste is collected fortnightly in a green-lidded wheeled bin and residual waste is collected on a weekly basis in a black bin.

Bedford borough said it hopes the contracts with Shanks and Viridor will save it 6.9 million a year. The council said this will be achieved by diverting residual waste from landfill, therefore avoiding landfill tax. In addition, the new recyclables contract will see the council earn an income from the sale of the materials.

Delighted

Commenting on the contracts, Ian Goodfellow, UK managing director of Shanks, said: We are delighted to have secured the contracts with Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire councils, both of which endorse Shanks sustainable approach to processing and recycling waste, while at the same time delivering cost effective waste management solutions for local authorities.

Mayor of Bedford borough, Dave Hodgson, added: I am delighted that after years of hard work we have managed to secure contracts which save Borough residents nearly seven million pounds.

I have always made clear my opposition to mass burn incineration and we will now see our waste being recycled and processed in a way which will deliver an immediate increase in our recycling rates of up to 4%. Rather than all the waste just being thrown in the ground or burnt, mechanical and biological treatment of our black bin waste will see more recyclable material extracted from our household waste.