A meeting of county councillors has revealed “some disquiet” among members that the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership's procurement process “might have discouraged or ruled out other technologies”.
Even the best countries in Europe only recycle 50-60% of waste and need to have an alternative way of disposing of waste than landfill. We are in the same boat.
Cllr Roger Belson, Oxfordshire CC
Some elected members raised the concern that opting for a £100 million energy-from-waste plant could lead to householders recycling less of their waste.
However, with government fines looming through Defra's Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme, the meeting came to a general acknowledgement that Oxfordshire is now “too late” to restart the bidding process.
The county council's cabinet has decided on two companies to go forward to the final stage of the bidding process. However, there is now to be a five-day cooling off period following the decision before the choice of firms will be publicly announced.
Councillor Roger Belson, Oxfordshire county council's cabinet member for sustainable development, said: “Even the best countries in Europe only recycle 50-60% of waste and need to have an alternative way of disposing of waste than landfill. We are in the same boat. There is still much more recycling of waste than can be done and we are aiming high. However, 100 per cent is an impossible target.
He added: “Since it became clear that Energy from Waste is now the only solution being proposed, some campaign groups have intensified their opposition. Let me make it abundantly clear energy from waste is widely and safely used in many European countries and is increasingly being used here in Britain.”
The county council said it will announce which sites could feature in the treatment contract in February, “at the same time as we announce the short listed companies. There will be a full planning process before any site is approved”.
The Oxfordshire Waste Partnership, which includes the county and four districts including Oxford city council, West Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire, Vale of the White Horse and Cherwell district councils, generates about 240,000 tonnes of waste each year.
Under its joint waste strategy, appropriately entitled “No time to waste”, the partnership states that to meet its government targets – and avoid £150 per tonne fines – it must divert around 155,000 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill by 2012/13, 202,000 tonnes by 2019/20 and potentially 246,000 tonnes by 2035/36.
Shortlist
The 25-year waste treatment contract has previously had a shortlist of bidders including waste firms Cory Environmental, Hills Group, SITA UK, Veolia, Viridor and Waste Recycling Group, as well as US incineration firm Covanta and new technology firm Global Renewables (see letsrecycle.com story).
Local opposition groups including Oxford Friends of the Earth have attempted to get the county to look into the use of alternative technologies like mechanical biological treatment (MBT), attending a meeting of councillors on January 8.
However, at the meeting Cllr Belson argued that residues from the MBT process “would still have to be incinerated”, or else go to landfill.
Commenting on the need to move forward with the incineration proposals, Cllr Belson said: “We cannot restart the bidding process as Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme fines start to take effect in April 2009. As it is, any EfW plant is unlikely to be operational until 2012.”
He also argued that seeking a shorter term contract of 10 to 15 years would be “unacceptable to the industry”. Some Oxfordshire councillors had wanted a break clause in the 25-year deal, particular because of the “rapid pace of change in technology” in waste management.
The county is currently recycling 41% of its waste, but the January 8th meeting of the council saw councillors worried that a new incinerator could reduce the motivation of householders to recycle their waste, since Oxfordshire's waste would no longer be going to landfill.
But Cllr Belson insisted that the county's waste partnership had targets to meet regarding recycling. “Companies involved [in the procurement process] were aware of the reduction and recycling targets, and had taken these into account in their solutions,” he said.
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