I am confident that the eight companies who have qualified will allow a choice of technologies to be considered so that we can find the right solution to meet Oxfordshire's needs and at a price that provides value for money
Councillor Roger Belson, Oxfordshire
The firms will now be invited to submit outline proposals for a facility under a Design, Build, Finance and Operate contract which is expected to last 25 years.
They are:
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Cory Environmental
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Covanta Energy
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Global Renewables
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Hills Industries
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SITA
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Veolia
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Viridor
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Waste Recycling Group
Technology neutral
The council is expecting a range of treatment proposals to be put forward for the facility, which could have a 200,000 tonne-a-year capacity. It has said it is “neutral between these technologies provided they do the job safely, cleanly and at a reasonable cost”.
Councillor Roger Belson, cabinet member for sustainable development, said: “I am pleased with the level of interest the industry has shown in our contract.
“I am also confident that the eight companies who have qualified will allow a choice of technologies to be considered so that we can find the right solution to meet Oxfordshire's needs and at a price that provides value for money. I am looking forward to seeing what the companies come up with in the autumn.”
Energy-from-waste (EfW), advanced thermal treatment and mechanical biological treatment are all up for consideration although EfW has provoked criticism from the local Friends of the Earth branch (see letsrecycle.com story).
Procurement
The procurement process formally began in March after the council placed a formal advert in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) – a requirement when local authorities embark on procurement processes.
The advert confirmed that the contract would last approximately 25 years and “anticipated” that the facility may be required to treat 200,000 tonnes per annum of residual municipal waste. However, it also stated that exact volumes could not be defined until the technology was chosen.
The OJEU advert added that the council would procure the services through either Public Private Partnership (PPP) or the Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
The council received 14 expressions of interest following the placement of the advert although a soft market review of potential interest from industry carried out last year saw more than 25 companies responding (see letsrecycle.com story). The 14 companies have now been whittled down to eight.
Food waste
But the facility for treating residual waste is still very much in the pipeline and will not be operating until 2012 at the earliest.
To avoid fines for failing to divert enough waste from landfill, the county is also planning to put a contract for a food waste treatment facility out to tender. This is expected to be operating in 2009.
In 2005/06, Oxfordshire residents produced the lowest amount of waste per person of any county in the country and hit a recycling/composting rate of 38%.
Now, in partnership with the county's local authorities the county council has agreed a target of zero waste per person and a recycling/composting target of 40% by 2009/10 and 55 % by 2019/20.
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