The move follows Swindon’s decision to award waste management company Viridor an eight-year contract worth £58 million to process kerbside-collected residual waste from April (see letsrecycle.com story).
Previously, Public Power Solutions Limited (PPS), a company owned by the council and established in 2013, carried out Swindon’s waste disposal services.
PPS operated Swindon’s sole HWRC at Waterside Park, as well as the MRFs and external transfer stations used by small vans at the site. It also arranged the sale and disposal of recyclable materials.
However, the waste disposal contract accounted for “the majority” of PPS’s income, according to a report which went before Swindon’s cabinet.
Therefore, the council has decided to operate the facilities themselves. The move will lead to annual savings of around £200,000, according to the report, though there will be a one-off cost of £300,000 this year to cover the transition.
Swindon says it has already begun the process of transferring the 36 members of the Waterside Park staff from PPS to the council.
PPS will continue to operate as an energy consultancy, specialising in solar power and battery storage.
SRF
PPS treated Swindon’s household residual waste by turning it into solid recoverable fuel (SRF).
The company’s deal with Swindon was due to expire this year, but the borough council had previously indicated it would sign a treatment contract until 2045 with PPS.
The decision to award the contract to Viridor – which PPS said it was “disappointed” by – will see the local authority-owned company’s SRF plant decommissioned (see letsrecycle.com story).
Swindon
Representing an estimated population of more than 220,000, Swindon borough council had a household waste recycling rate of 39.6% in the 2020/21 financial year, the most recent available data.
Under its contract, Viridor processes 55,000 tonnes of non-recyclable residual waste collected from the kerbside and the Waterside Park HWRC.
The company processes the waste at its energy from waste facility in Avonmouth, near Bristol.
According to the report which went before Swindon’s cabinet, the decision to award Viridor a contract created a “range of benefits”, including a budget saving and the “mitigation of health and safety and environmental management risks”.
The decision also reduced the risk of the “increasing unexpected costs of waste disposal” that the council had experienced, the report says.
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