The contracts are for both the Royal Borough of Maidenhead and Windsor and also Tomorrow’s Valley, a group of four Welsh authorities comprising Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen Council.
Windsor & Maidenhead
Royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s contract started on 26 November 2015. Residual waste not recycled through the local kerbside collection scheme is taken to Viridor’s ERF at Ardley, Oxfordshire, where it is processed into energy.
The borough has stated that the 15-year contract, which has the possibility of two five-year extensions, will bring savings of up to £500,000 each year.
In addition to the residual waste collection from Viridor, the borough provides a weekly service collecting commingled recyclables and residents have the option of a paid for subscribed green waste collection service.
Councillor Carwyn Cox, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “We are delighted we have made the move away from putting our non-recycled rubbish into expensive and harmful landfill,” whilst also stressing the importance to continue recycling using the local kerbside collection scheme in conjunction with the new service.
Tomorrow’s Valley
Following on from the Windsor and Maidenhead deal, Viridor and Tomorrow’s Valley have signed a 25-year contract, with an optional five year extension.
Tomorrow’s Valley is a partnership between Rhondda Cynon Taf and Blaenau Gwent to provide solutions to waste management issues affecting the councils.
Backed by funding from the Welsh government, it will mean that residual waste from the four councils will be diverted from landfill and processed at Viridor’s Trident Park ERF in Cardiff.
In a statement, Viridor said that the recycling of residues from Trident Park will help the four authorities move towards achieving Wales’ statutory 70% recycling target by 2025.
ERFs
Trident Park ERF in Cardiff, which was officially opened in June 2015, generates 30MW of electricity for the National Grid.
The addition of material from the Tomorrow’s Valley authorities to that already managed on behalf of the five-council Prosiect Gwyrdd partnership will mean that the energy recovery facility is securely managing around 267,000 tonnes of waste from nine Welsh local authorities.
Ian McAulay, chief cxecutive of Viridor, said: “Through our £223m investment at Cardiff, Viridor is helping nine Welsh authorities deliver a low-carbon vision for transforming what once was ‘waste’, generating renewable energy from what remains”.
The £205 million Oxfordshire plant also opened in June 2015 and helps to process 300,000 tonnes-a-year of residual waste from Oxfordshire country council and other local authorities and businesses.
Last week (27 November 2015) Viridor’s parent company, Pennon Group, released its half year results, which attributed its strong earnings performance have been significantly helped by Viridor’s ERFs (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr McAulay said: “We are increasingly well-positioned as ERFs come on-stream delivering significant earnings growth”.
Register for free to comment