Onyx in the driving seat for Nottinghamshire PFI contract

The company was put in the hot seat for the 26-year Private Finance Initiative contract following this morning's council cabinet meeting.

” Onyx has a great deal of experience and offers a quality service “
– Councillor David Kirkham, Nottinghamshire county council
Onyx is proposing to develop a range of new waste treatment facilities for the county, including a materials recycling facility, a new composting site and a new 180,000 tonne-capacity energy recovery plant.

Hopes are that more than half of Nottinghamshire's annual 450,000 tonnes of waste will be recycled by 2020 under the contract.

Making the announcement today, the leader of Nottinghamshire county council, Cllr David Kirkham, said: “The tender from Onyx is seen to offer the best potential solution.

“Onyx has a great deal of experience and offers a quality service. The county council has worked closely with the districts in their capacity as waste authorities whilst making the decision, and we look forward to progressing the details further,” Cllr Kirkham added.

It has taken four years for the council to appoint Onyx as preferred bidder after formulating a municipal waste strategy for Nottinghamshire in 2001. The contract, which is backed by almost 32 million in PFI credits from the government, is now expected to be signed in December 2005.

Priorities


Priorities for the contract include boosting recycling and composting in the county to 52% of household waste by 2020 through multi-material kerbside collections. Onyx would also be expected to reduce the landfilling of biodegradable material to virtually zero by 2011 and help the council meet its Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme obligations.

Cyrille du Peloux, chief executive of Onyx, said the company was “delighted and proud” to be named preferred bidder for the Nottinghamshire contract. He said: “We appreciate that there is much work to be undertaken before the contract is signed, but are confident that our experience in managing large integrated waste management contracts will help meet the challenges of recycling and landfill diversion targets faced by Nottinghamshire.”

Onyx already runs waste management contracts for Sheffield, East Sussex and Birmingham, as well as having 10 years' experience with the high profile Hampshire contract.

Proposal


For Nottinghamshire, the Onyx proposal includes an 80,000 tonne-capacity multi-material MRF at Mansfield; 100,000 tonnes of annual composting capacity including a new windrow composting facility at Bilsthorpe; and, a new energy recovery facility for the Mansfield/Ashfield area to turn residual waste into power from 2011.

Cllr Kirkham said: “As with any other new facility for waste, the development of an energy from waste facility requires both planning consent and other regulatory consent from the Environment Agency. A full public consultation exercise will be undertaken by the council and Onyx during this process.”

Onyx is also expecting to develop a new household waste recycling centre in Worksop as well as upgrading the existing network of council sites and transfer stations.

The county is currently recycling about 32% of its waste, and projects a 35% rate for this year.