The PFI credits will be used within a 25-year waste management contract for the handling of more than 800,000 tonnes of domestic waste produced each year in Merseyside.
Merseyside's scheme sets challenging targets, and I am pleased to see them make such an ambitious commitment
Joan Ruddock
The contract could be worth as much as £3.5 billion over its 25 years, rivalling Manchester as one of the biggest waste management contracts in the country.
The new minister for climate change, biodiversity and waste said there would be “challenging targets” for the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority to achieve under the PFI scheme in diverting waste from landfill.
It is to include more composting, more household waste recycling centres and also new facilities to separate out any remaining residual waste for “further recycling and energy recovery”.
Mrs Ruddock, said: “Reducing our reliance on landfill is an essential part of the drive to tackle climate change. Merseyside's scheme sets challenging targets, and I am pleased to see them make such an ambitious commitment.
“PFI agreements like this one provide an incentive for local authorities and industry to work together to achieve our goals for cutting waste, reducing its environmental impact, and making better use and reuse of the waste we create,” the minister said.
Improvements
Households in Merseyside recycled 18.5% of their waste in 2005/06, below the 26.7% English national average.
Under the planned improvements, the area aims to raise recycling rates to 45% by 2020 and to cut the amount of its waste sent to landfill by over 60%, equivalent to nearly half a million tonnes.
It should see the proportion of Merseyside's waste sent to landfill dropping from 83% to just 19%.
Councillor Kevin Cluskey, chairman of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, said: “We welcome this funding from government which will assist us in delivering value for money for the residents of Merseyside. We are embarking on one of the biggest waste procurement projects in the country and this will help to significantly improve our region's waste management facilities.”
Contract
Time is a major issue – if we are to cope with increasingly heavy landfill fines we meed to act quickly.
Carl Beer, MWDA
The PFI contract is being delivered in three parts. Firstly, a residual waste and recovery contract will develop new residual treatment facilities between 2011 and 2015, potentially including some form of mechanical biological treatment with energy recovered from a refuse-derived fuel. Secondly, a landfill contract would fit around the residuals contract, while a third contract for waste management and recycling is also being issued.
This last contract will involve running the household waste recycling centres as well as other existing residual waste treatment facilities, and a shortlist of bidders has already been announced of Biffa, Shanks, SITA UK, Veolia and WRG. Final selection is expected to be made in May 2008, for the contract to start in September 2008.
Commenting on the awarding of the PFI credits today, Carl Beer, director of the MWDA, said: “This is fantastic news and means we can begin to make real inroads on our recycling targets. We are already looking at identifying where to build new facilities with this money.”
The Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority currently runs waste disposal services for Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, Wirral, and St Helens as well as 14 household waste recycling centres in the area.
The services are currently run on a £38 million annual budget with its wholly-owned local authority waste disposal company, Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd.
The existing contracts expire in 2008, but the completion of the PFI contract procurement is now not likely to be before 2009 according to council papers.
Mr Beer said: “Time is a major issue – if we are to cope with increasingly heavy landfill fines we meed to act quickly to find the best possible solution for taxpayers.”
The MWDA director said extensive public consultation would be undertaken by his authority “to develop the most appropriate mix of technologies on the most appropriate sites”.
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