The unitary authority has set out six options for a potential new waste management contract ranging from no immediate changes through to new energy-from-waste, in-vessel composting or mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plants. The council could also export waste to other councils' facilities under new arrangements.
If the council's waste management arrangements do not change, officers believe they would need to buy landfill allowances from 2008/09 under the government's Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme. This would be because they would need to landfill more biodegradable material than their allocation of landfill allowances would permit.
The exact nature of a new waste management contract – in terms of length and scope – is still to be determined, the council said. Current contractual arrangements end in February 2009.
Paul Sobczyk, waste strategy coordinator at Telford and Wrekin told letsrecycle.com: “There are options involving new technologies such as MBT which would probably warrant a long term contract, 20-25 years. Importing and exporting is a more short term solution and may only require a five-year contract.”
Advantages
The council believes there could be advantages in either solution, with the short-term option allowing Telford time for new treatment technologies to become more proven at a large scale.
Mr Sobczyk explained: “A short term contract either importing or exporting waste would allow us to explore options such as MBT further, by perhaps visiting other sites. Then when the five years is up we could again look at MBT as a possible long term option for the disposal of waste in Telford.”
The council's consultation process will run until the end of February 2005, by which time Telford hopes to gain views from the public, the waste industry and community groups. The council hopes to decide on an option before starting its contract procurement process in the summer of 2005.
Roll out
Under its 2001 waste strategy, Telford and Wrekin has doubled its recycling rate to 19.6% in the last 18 months. A new alternate weekly recycling service is expected to be fully in place in 2005/06, and the council believes its recycling rate will exceed 25% as a result.
Despite new recycling services, the borough estimates about 70,000 tonnes of residual household waste will require disposal each year. With anticipated population growth, this figure is likely to grow.
- Mandy Gregory, the resident who started her own waste collection service after becoming frustrated with Telford and Wrekin's alternate weekly collection service, has begun to recycle some of her waste. Mrs Gregory is delivering waste to the dirty MRF run by Pink Skips at Ketley, Shropshire.
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