Suffolk may offer excess EfW capacity to Norfolk

Suffolk council has said it is open to discussion with Norfolk county council, over sharing some excess capacity at the Great Blakenham energy-from-waste (EfW) plant, which is currently being built by SITA UK.

The offer comes as plans to build an EfW plant on behalf of Norfolk council look set to be scrapped with contractor Cory Wheelabrator still awaiting the outcome of a planning decision from Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

Council officers this week recommended ditching the project at a cost of around 30 million to the authority due to the likelihood that it will not offer value for money because of its continued delay (see letsrecycle.com story).

Terminating the 25-year Cory Wheelabrator contract, which is worth an estimated 500 million, leaves Norfolk council with no long term waste treatment option for the estimated 268,000 tonnes of residual waste it produces every year.

A facility to treat residual waste on behalf of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk borough council is currently being developed by Cheshire firm Material Works, although it is unlikely that Norfolk council will view this plant as an option as doubts have been raised over the viability of the project.

Great Blakenham

Yesterday (April 1), Suffolk council leader councillor Mark Bee raised the possibility that the two councils could discuss sending residual waste from Norfolk to the 269,000 tonnes-per-year capacity Great Blakeham plant, which is due to be fully operational by December 2014.

He said: I recognise the situation Norfolk are currently in and as part of our Suffolk and Norfolk collaboration, I am keen to ensure that we can do what we can to assist them.

Our energy from waste facility was built overwhelmingly for Suffolks waste, however as with any good planning, we have built this with marginally more capacity than Suffolks needs, so its only our spare headroom that we can discuss with Norfolk and other potential customers who are expressing an interest.

In light of the proposal to be considered by Norfolks cabinet to terminate the contract for the proposed energy from waste facility in Kings Lynn, Im sure there will be subsequent talks between ourselves and Norfolk.

Tonnage

Under its 25-year residual waste treatment contract with SITA UK, worth up to 1 billion, Suffolk council is required to pay for the treatment of up to 170,000 tonnes of waste per year at the plant.

Sharing some capacity may work to the advantage of Suffolk council, as it otherwise required to work with SITA to identify alternative customers to provide waste to the plant, should it not be able to supply the required 170,000 tonnes of residual waste each year.

SITA is responsible for filling any additional capacity remaining on top of that set aside for the council with much of that likely to come from commercial sources.

Responding to the comments from councillor Bee, councillor George Nobbs, leader of Norfolk county council said: I am very grateful to Mark for his offer of support at this difficult time. It is a measure of the distance we have come in our co-operation together.

The two councils are already in early discussions over sending around 30,000 tonnes of Norfolks waste to the Great Blakenham facility, as a result of the expiration of the councils contract with FCC Environment to send waste to its Aldeby landfill site near Beccles.

Norfolk has also said that should the EfW contract be scrapped it will be able to extend some of its existing landfill contracts to 2016, and that it is in regular contact with other waste disposal authorities over the use of existing waste treatment facilities.