The SRF contract was due to expire this year but the borough council had previously signalled its intention to sign a long-term residual waste treatment contract until 2045 with Public Power Solutions. Now, after putting a residual waste contract out to tender, it has been awarded to Viridor.
On Friday (28 January), letsrecycle.com reported Viridor’s success which lead to question marks over the PPS facility, with PPS also having bid for the contract (see letsrecycle.com story).
A spokesperson for PPS has now said that the plant will now be decommissioned and instead the site operate as a waste transfer station. It is situated next to Swindon’s household waste recycling centre.
“Whilst PPS is obviously disappointed not to have been awarded the waste disposal contract, we will work with Viridor to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible,” the PPS spokesperson said.
They added: “The SRF plant will be decommissioned and become a waste transfer station which will continue to receive Swindon’s household waste. As we are still in the contract handover stage, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
Contract
The plant was opened in 2014 by Defra minister George Eustice, who is now the environment secretary (see letsrecycle.com story).
It was constructed by Machinex, which successfully tendered for a £6 million contract to supply the custom-made sorting technology in May 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).
At the time of opening, PPS said the plant — which treats 48,000 tonnes of Swindon’s household, commercial and industrial waste per annum — was estimated to bring savings of £16 million over its eight-year lifespan, with the possibility of an extension.
With the contract due to expire, PPS had said in its annual results for the 2020/21 financial year that it was “confident” it would win the new tender, and also said it was investing in a pelletisation plant.
The results explained that the company had been working with its shareholder, Swindon council, to invest in a pelletisation plant to “significantly reduce disposal costs, open up the UK market, and take the company one-step further towards energy from waste”.
However, the results said after the company had undertaken initial procurement for the pellet solution, the council “made the decision to test the market as part of their end-to-end review of the waste service….The company will be required to respond to this opportunity”.
Council
Viridor’s contract with Swindon will run for an initial eight years, with no breaks or extensions being included.
This will see the company process 55,000 tonnes of its own non-recyclable residual waste collected from the kerbside, and from its single household waste recycling centre.
A spokesperson for Swindon borough council said: “We are looking forward to working with Viridor as we continue our drive to secure value for money from our waste disposal operations. We are supporting both Viridor and PPS through the contract handover stage so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time”.
Below is a video from PPS showing how the 2014 plant works. The council explains that waste is shredded, sorted and dried before being compacted into bales which then goes to the UK or Europe for fuel.
The council says a “significant amount” of recyclable materials such as tins, cans and glass bottles, that are put in “black wheelie bins instead of being recycled”, also get sent to the plant. The council said the plant “can remove some of this material but it cannot recycle it properly using this process”.
Viridor EfW portfolio
In a statement given to letsrecycle.com Michael French, Viridor’s chief commercial officer said “Viridor is delighted to have been awarded this contract and we look forward to working with both Swindon Borough Council and Public Power Solutions.
“We have been able to offer a robust and flexible solution for the council through use of our existing Energy Recovery facilities at Avonmouth and Ardley as well as our Joint Venture facility at Lakeside. This contract will contribute to Viridor’s strategy of growing our core areas of our business, including our Energy Recovery and Polymers Reprocessing, while pushing ahead with our plans to be net zero by 2040.”
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