Wakefield aims to sign waste PFI by end of 2010

Wakefield council has claimed it expects to reach financial close on its £750 million waste PFI contract by the end of this year, despite the economic downturn meaning the deal remains unsigned nearly three years after it appointed VT Group as preferred bidder.

The engineering company was chosen by the council for the 25-year contract in November 2007, with a bid focused around using autoclave technology to treat up to 180,000 tonnes-a-year of the West Yorkshire council's residual household waste (see letsrecycle.com story).

The council and VT Group had hoped to finalise the deal by the summer of 2008, but the economic downturn has seen the target date for financial close pushed further and further back. It had been understood that the contract was set to be signed this month (see letsrecycle.com story).

And, revealing last week (September 24) that the target was now to sign the contract by the end of 2010, Wakefield council again cited the economic situation as having contributed to the delays.

Councillor Olivia Rowley, the local authority's cabinet member for the environment, said: “It has taken some time to get to this point with delays outside the council's control, largely cause by the economic slowdown.

“But our commitment to managing the district's waste more effectively is now payi9ng off and we are on the road to success. I am really pleased that we are working towards a financial close by the end of this year.”

Babcock

VT Group was acquired by engineering company Babcock International in March 2010, and Wakefield council stressed that it was continuing to work “closely” with the new owners of VT to finalise the deal.

Earlier this year, VT/Babcock unveiled a full-scale trial autoclave facility in Wakefield, similar to the three autoclave units set to be developed at South Kirkby under the PFI contract (see letsrecycle.com story).

And the council has said it expects the new treatment facilities to be operational in spring 2013, at which point, at which point it will remove its current kerbside recycling collections. Instead, the autoclave process separates off recyclates from residual waste.

HWRCs

Under the contract, changes are also being made to the council's household waste recycling centres, with the Denby Dale Road site closed for two years and rebuilt as a transfer loading station with a separate household waste centre with additional parking spaces.

Babcock is currently seeking planning permission for a temporary public facility at Calder Vale Road while the Denby Dale Road site is closed.

Two other purpose-built household waste recycling centres will be provided at Glass Houghton and at South Kirkby, together with modification to the household waste site at Welbeck. When these centres are completed, the smaller sites at Ossett, Castleford, Ferrybridge, Fitzwilliam and South Kirkby (Manface) will all close.