The ‘Tees Valley’ facility is proposed for a region where the private sector, notably Suez, already provides EfW facilities – the local authorities see their proposed plant as a “commercial opportunity” to generate income.
Durham county council, Newcastle city council, Middlesbrough and the boroughs of Darlington, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees plan to build an ‘energy recovery facility’ with a 450,000 tonnes per annum capacity.
A 25-acre brownfield site in Redcar and Cleveland which has been earmarked for the proposed Tees Valley facility is currently owned by the South Tees Development Corporation.
A spokesperson for the project said: “While we would obviously urge everyone to recycle as much as possible, we appreciate that not all rubbish can be repurposed.
“We know that the volume of non-recyclable material we have to deal with is only likely to increase as our population and household numbers grow.”
They added: “By joining forces, the seven councils can create a new facility using the latest technology, reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, which is better for the environment.
“The commercial opportunity this proposed plant also presents could mean that we can generate significant income, thereby offsetting costs for the taxpayer.”
Contract
The councils say the project would represent a capital investment of up to £300 million. The total value of the contract is estimated at £2.1 billion across an initial 29 years, with a possible 11-year extension.
“The commercial opportunity this proposed plant presents could mean that we can generate significant income”
As of today (24 July), the councils say they have begun a Europe wide search for a contractor to build and run the facility.
It is hoped to have that partner in place by December 2021, with the construction phase creating more than 300 jobs, the councils say.
Details of the procurement notice can be found on the Official Journal of the European Union website here.
Facility
The local authorities hope for the facility to be up and running by 1 April 2026, when it would create 40 permanent positions. They estimate that by 2025 the five Tees Valley borough authorities will generate around 200,000 tonnes of waste, a figure “only likely to increase as a result of housing and population growth”.
The facility would receive a further 200,000 tonnes from the two larger council areas to the north, with any spare capacity offered for commercial waste disposal.
Current arrangements
Currently, four Tees Valley authorities – Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees – have a residual waste contract with Suez, with most residual waste treated at the company’s EfW facility at Haverton Hill.
In September 2018 Suez announced plans to develop its third EfW plant at Haverton Hill, near Billingham, capable of treating 200,000 tonnes of residual waste a year (see letsrecycle.com story). The French-owned waste management company operates five EfW process lines in Teesside, divided between two facilities at the same site known as known as SUEZ Tees Valley (STV) 1, 2 & 3 and The North East Energy Recovery Centre.
Darlington has a contract with Wades, with residual waste processed to produce refuse derived fuel.
Durham also has a residual contract with Suez, providing merchant access to landfill diversion, primarily through EfW, but also using other technology including mechanical biological treatment (MBT).
And, Newcastle has a residual waste contract with Suez, providing treatment through MBT, including in vessel composting.
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