West Berkshire Council has named the company as its preferred bidder for the 25-year contract and subject to final negotiations, the agreement should be signed and sealed by October.
” This new contract will ensure recycling rates of at least 45%. A recent survey indicated that West Berkshire residents overwhelmingly supported the principles of recycling and composting. “
– Councillor Geoff Findlay, West Berkshire
Veolia (formerly Onyx Aurora) was the only remaining bidder from four shortlisted for the contract. (see letsrecycle.com story)
Waste Recycling Group, Shanks and Biffa all pulled out citing “commercial reasons”.
Although the council was left with just one bidder, it is satisfied the contract is commercially competitive after a comprehensive procurement review was carried out with Defra and the treasury.
Facilities
The government has awarded £28.49 million of PFI credits to the project, which will be invested in facilities for materials recycling, waste transfer, an in-vessel composter and household waste recycling.
West Berkshire’s head of waste Andrew Deacon, has confirmed to letsrecycle.com that 20,000 tonnes of the 100,000 tonnes of waste produced in west Berkshire each year will be processed by the MRF.
Another 30,000 tonnes, including residual waste, will be treated by the in-vessel composter and another 25,000 will go to energy-from-waste plants – the location of these sites have not yet been revealed.
Household recycling
The council wants to hit a 45% household recycling rate which would more than double 2005/06 rates – the most recent data published by Defra – when it achieved a 19.8% rate, missing a target of 30%.
To meet this aim, Veolia plans to introduce kerbside collections of plastic bottles, cardboard and green waste, in addition to existing paper, glass, cans and textiles service.
West Berkshire executive councillor Geoff Findlay said: “This new contract will ensure recycling rates of at least 45%. This will make a huge contribution to protecting the local environment from greenhouse gases.
“A recent survey indicated that West Berkshire residents overwhelmingly supported the principles of recycling and composting. This is another step on the road to a cleaner, greener, West Berkshire,” he added.
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Veolia’s contract will cover waste collection, recycling, disposal and street cleansing services. Construction on the new facilities will, subject to contract and planning permission, begin in late 2008.
Kevin Hurst, Veolia’s marketing and communications director for the UK and northern Europe, said: “By implementing an integrated approach which maximises the efficiency of collection, treatment and disposal, the council can benefit from improved economies of scale as it works with residents to meet increased recycling targets.”
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