Two bidders shortlisted for 800m North Wales deal

Waste management firm SITA UK and incineration specialist Wheelabrator have been named as the two bidders left in the running for a major waste treatment contract for five North Wales councils.

The North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP) a joint procurement by Flintshire county council, Conwy county borough council, Denbighshire county council, Gwynedd council and the Isle of Anglesey county council, is seeking a contractor to build and operate a waste treatment facility for 25 years.

The proposed facility will treat around 150,000 tonnes of residual household waste from the five counties per year, in line with the Welsh Governments target to recycle 70% of all waste by 2025.

The final bidder will be selected in 2013, with the facility expected to be up and running by 2017.

Funding

The project, which will be backed with 142.7 million funding from the Welsh Government in the form of a 5.72 million subsidy each year over the service period of the contract, will represent a total investment of between 600-800 million over the course of its life.

A three-company shortlist was announced in April 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story), but yesterdays (August 21) announcement means that Veolia Environmental Services Aurora Ltd is no longer in the running.

Previous unsuccessful bidders for the contract, which was originally advertised in July 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story), include a consortium of Biffa waste services and E.ON; Covanta Energy; a consortium called Complete Circle comprised of Shanks, John Laing Investments, Grays Waste Management and Keppel Seghers; Viridor; and a joint bid by Waste Recycling Group and Balfour Beatty Capital.

Facility

The Partnership has earmarked a site at the Deeside Industrial Estate in Flintshire for the potential waste facility to be built, but says it is technology neutral about any proposed facilities.

It has, however, stipulated that proposals allow for as much household waste as possible be transported by rail to reduce the sites environmental impact and that air quality monitoring on site is of a standard higher than normal industry standards to allay public concerns about emissions from the facility.

The new facility will also be subject to planning permission from the local authority and must gain an environmental permit from Environment Agency Wales before it is able to start operating.