The deal – which was tendered by Kent county council – will see New Earth process food waste collected from Maidstone, Ashford, and Gravesham and Swale at its Blaise Farm Quarry in-vessel composting (IVC) facility.
The 50,000 tonnes-per-year facility near Maidstone already treats food and green waste delivered by the county council under three separate contracts.
New Earth has held a mixed organic waste contract for the treatment of both food waste and green waste since 2009, while two further contracts for the sole treatment green waste were awarded in 2014.
This latest arrangement, worth an estimated £2 million, is subject to two potential contract extensions – the first for a further four years and the second for an additional two years.
In total, the contract would potentially last 11 years with the value rising to around £4.2 million over its lifetime.
At present, food waste collected from councils in East Kent is treated by Veolia under a separate £70 million, 10-year waste management contract signed in 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
AD facility
New Earth aims to be able to move food waste treatment over to its proposed anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at the Blaise facility, which was recently awarded planning permission.
The AD facility, which will double the treatment capacity of the Blaise facility to 100,000 tonnes-per-year, as well as generating 3MW of power for on-site operations and the local distribution grid. The plant is due to be completed in mid-2016.
The contract begins this month, however due to the re-development of the transfer station which accepts food waste from Swale borough council, deliveries may not commence in Swale until spring 2015 at the earliest.
Richard Brooke, commercial director at New Earth, told letsrecycle.com the company was pleased to have been awarded the food waste contract.
He said: “We are very happy to have been awarded our fourth contract from Kent county council related to our Blaise facility. We look forward to delivering a good service that delivers quality PAS 100 and PAS 110 compost for their organic waste.”
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