Milton Keynes goes it alone to procure waste deal

The Buckinghamshire local authority is procuring its own waste treatment contract after the withdrawal of PFI funding as part of government spending cuts prompted the end of its joint waste project with Northamptonshire county council (see letsrecycle.com story).

That procurement, which was known as Project Reduce, had received 138 million in government PFI support in November 2008, but was one of seven waste PFI projects to have its funding withdrawn as part of last Octobers Spending Review (see letsrecycle.com story).

Milton Keynes is now seeking to meet with waste management and recycling firms on March 29 to discuss means of catering for its 70,000 tonnes-a-year of residual waste. In addition, it will discuss the need for relevant waste treatment infrastructure in the region.

A preferred treatment technology has not been specified, however, Milton Keynes has ruled out the use of mass burn incineration.

Councillor Mike Galloway, cabinet member for environment, said: We are obviously disappointed that, due to the loss of the PFI credits, Project Reduce has come to an end but we have to continue to take a proactive approach in solving the increasing problem of landfill within our authority.

The Industry Day is an opportunity for those companies who may look to provide a solution to find out information about the councils views and to have an input to our thinking, he added.

Industry

The Industry Day will involve a presentation being made during the day and also there will be an opportunity for one-to-one discussions with senior members of the project team.

In addition, attendees will be given an escorted tour of the councils strategic waste site at Dickens Road, Old Wolverton.

A spokesman for Milton Keynes council told letsrecycle.com that issues such as funding and a construction timetable would be subject of discussions at the Industry Day.

He said: The Industry Day is based around looking at options, so it is inviting people from different parts of the industry to come along and talk to us about these issues, what can they come to us with and how we can work together.

“We have a few ideas that we will put on the table but I dont think we have got that far down the line to discuss issues like funding just yet.

He did, however, add that avenues such as private finance and prudential borrowing were among the financial options that could be considered.

The councils had said that they would use the work done as part of the PFI waste procurement process as a foundation for future work on waste and would be considering short term arrangements for residual waste disposal.