Waste management firm Shanks is ready to begin construction of its mechanical Sinfin Lane waste treatment plant in Derby after securing funding for the project today (August 21).
Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Ltd, a joint venture between Shanks and Interserve Group, agreed funding terms for the PPP contract with Derby city and Derbyshire county councils which is estimated to generated revenues of 950 million over a 27-year period.
The deal will see the joint venture develop a 145 million MBT plant and on-site gasification facility on Sinfin Lane, which will process around 190,000 tonnes of household waste collected in the county which is currently sent to landfill or for treatment outside Derbyshire.
Waste sent to the Sinfin plant will be heat-treated to produce a gas, which in turn will be burned to create electricity forthe national grid. Leftover ash will be recycled to produce an aggregate replacement in concrete block manufacture or treated and used in a gypsum substitute.
The Shanks-operated plant is expected to create 250 construction jobs and save the councils 2.5 million per annum for 27 years, while Derbyshire county council claims it will help achieve an overall recycling rate of 55% by 2020. The local authority achieved a rate of 45.49% in 2012/13.
Criticism
The MBT, which received planning permission in September 2012, has been met with criticism by the Sinfin and Spondon Against Incineration, while campaigner Dorothy Skrytek last year launched an unsuccessful appeal against the plant at the Royal Courts of Justice.
‘The Derby contract is an important part of our growth strategy for the UK Municipal Division and the introduction of gasification technology also adds an important dimension to the Groups portfolio of clean waste-to-product technologies.’
– Peter Dilnot, Group chief executive of Shanks Group
Campaigners have also criticised the decision to pursue the EfW plant in light of the news that some households are to lose recycling collections (see letsrecycle.com story) claiming that the decision will lead to recyclable waste being sent for energy recovery.
In February this year, Derbyshire county council cabinet members ruled in favour of Shanks pressing ahead with its plans to build the gasification facility (see letsrecycle.com story).
Funding of up to 195 million for the project has been generated by the UK Green Investment Bank as well as two leading international banks; BayernLB from Germany and the Japan-based Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
‘Delighted’
Peter Dilnot, Group chief executive of Shanks Group plc, said: We are delighted to have concluded funding for this 27 year contract with Derby city and Derbyshire county councils.
The Derby contract is an important part of our growth strategy for the UK Municipal Division and the introduction of gasification technology also adds an important dimension to the Groups portfolio of clean waste-to-product technologies.
We look forward to working closely with the authorities and local residents to continue to provide them with an excellent service and to make more from the waste they produce.
Councillor Joan Dixon, Derbyshire county councils cabinet member for jobs, economy and transport, added that the facility, which is scheduled to be completed in April 2017 would help offset massive budget cuts and the costs of sending waste to landfill.
She said: This waste treatment facility will give us certainty about the cost of managing waste in the future, help us to manage our budgets and protect us from future rises in the cost of landfill – including Landfill Tax which is currently set at 80 a tonne.
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