The Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) Waste Partnership ended its waste treatment contract with Sterecycle after the firm entered administration on September 18 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Following the termination of the contract, the councils are sending the waste to Veolia ES’ energy-from-waste plant in Sheffield.
In addition, 70 of Sterecycles 90 strong workforce have been made redundant.
The administrators are now looking to find a buyer for the business assets, which it hopes to have completed by the end of the week.
Talking to letsrecycle.com, Guy Hollander, one of the administrators from Mazars, said there had been over 40 expressions of interest in the site; however some of these are likely to fall away. Mr Hollander added that he had communicated with the interested parties and expected final bids in by close of play of today (October 2).
Discussing what happens next, he said: We just have to see what price we get, its a bit too early to say. The main thing we are concerned about is getting the business up and running and trying to preserve the workforce and maybe re-employ some of the others.
If they [the buyers] want to start operations again they can. The people we are talking to are looking at the on-going viability of the business, they are not looking to strip it out for metal.
BDR
BDR said it had to cancel the contract with Sterecycle as the terms and conditions were not being met.
Karl Battersby, strategic director for environment and development services at Rotherham borough council, said: Obviously it is always sad when any company gets into difficulties but it is particularly so when it is a local company offering such an innovative treatment of local household waste.
BDR has worked hard to support them throughout the term of the contract but unfortunately we had to cancel because the terms and conditions of the contract were not being met by Sterecycle and as a waste authority, our key duty is to our own customers – the public.
BDR added that it was now in discussions with the Environment Agency and the administrators to see how the site will be managed. In addition, it said it will work with other agencies to help find alternative employment for the Sterecycle staff.
Treatment
The 68,000 tonnes of BDRs residual waste that was treated by Sterecycle per annum is now being sent to Veolia ES energy recovery facility in Sheffield as well as to landfill.
Mr Battersby added: Last year the three authorities sent just under 68,000 tonnes of waste to the Templeborough autoclave facility as part of an interim contract. Fortunately, Sterecycle was one of several partner companies which deal with our waste and so we have been negotiating with them to ensure continuity in the disposal of the borough’s waste on a temporary basis.
This is not the first time the councils have looked to Veolia for help. In early 2011 it treated the residual waste from Rotherham that would have been sent to Sterecycle, after an explosion at it’s facility saw the site temporarily closed (see letsrecycle.com story).
The Yorkshire Police investigation into the explosion, in which one man was killed, is ongoing.
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