The announcement means that energy-from-waste specialist Covanta Energy and waste management firm SITA UK are now the sole companies in the running for the 25-year deal which will involve developing facilities to treat an estimated 500,000 tonnes-a-year of the region's municipal residual waste.
The Authority is very pleased with the progress of the contract and the quality of the proposals that are being brought forward
Cllr Kevin Cluskey, chairperson, MWDA
And, it also means that the Resource From Waste Alliance – made up of United Utilities, property management company Land Securities and Trillium – and Shanks, who had both been named on an earlier shortlist (see letsrecycle.com story), are no longer in the running for the contract.
While no technology or site has been specified for the contract, the Outline Business Case which was submitted to Defra to secure £90 million in PFI credits for the project was based on mechanical biological treatment being used to produce a refuse-derived fuel which would then be processed to produce electricity and/or heat.
Councillor Kevin Cluskey, chairperson of the MWDA, welcomed the latest step forward in the procurement process and reiterated his confidence that it would deliver high quality infrastructure for the MWDA's five member councils and Halton, which is also involved in the procurement process.
“The Authority is very pleased with the progress of the contract and the quality of the proposals that are being brought forward,” he said.
“We are confident that the next stages of the process will result in cost-effective and sustainable solutions to Merseyside and Halton's future waste and recycling needs,” he added.
The 'Resource and Recovery' contract is expected to involve capital investment in the region of £400 million, and is the second of two major waste contracts the MWDA has been procuring over the past few years, with a combined value of £3.3 billion.
The first, smaller, 'Waste Management and Recycling' deal, which involves materials recycling facilities and household waste recycling centres, was formally awarded to Veolia Environmental Services in May 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Next steps
The next steps for the PFI-funded waste treatment deal are set to involve further evaluation of the two bidders before a call for final tenders, with the aim of appointing a preferred bidder towards the end of 2010 and reaching financial close in early 2011.
Carl Beer, director of the MWDA, commented: “We continue to pursue a comprehensive sites acquisition and planning strategy, and there is still a lot of work to do with both SITA and Covanta before we select a preferred bidder and get on with delivering the winning solution.”
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