West Sussex partnership to revamp recycling with £150m contract

The contract valued at between £100m and £125m is, according to West Sussex County Council, the largest waste related contract the area has ever let.

Funding for the new contract in part has been derived from £25million of PFI money, which will be used mainly to develop the infra-structure to improve recycling and waste management in West Sussex. The funding will contribute towards the capital investment needed, although the councils will have to meet any remaining costs.

Management

The successful contractor will manage and plan waste handling, recycling and composting facilities as well as the redevelopment and installation of new civic amenity sites and MRFs. The contract demands that ways are found for West Sussex to boost its recycling rates and develop markets for collected recyclables.

Implementation of the contract alongside future initiatives developed by the partnership – which is composed of seven borough and district councils, will boost current recycling levels of 18% to 45% by 2015.

The contractor will also be responsible for processing 70% of green household waste as well as creating MRF capacity and providing improvments to its existing civic amenity network. However, the employed firm would not be responsible for waste collections.

Referring to the contract, contracts and development manager Phillip Russell said: “As this is a long-term contract we have to be flexible to enable us to keep the contract alive and respond to changing needs of the waste produced by the community.”

In terms of timing, Mr Russell said: “We’ve now issued a tender document, although it won’t be until at least autumn next year that we award the contract, with a handover period adding another three months onto the process.”

The new contract is being referred to as Design, Build, Finance and Operate and improvements are proposed to be carried out in a rolling programme beginning in 2004. Proposals intended to provide for within the remits of the contract include:

Relocation of Worthing civic amenity site, improving the Burgess Hill civic amenity site, upgrading Crawley civic amenity site, a new civic amenity site for Billingshurst, replacement for the Sompting waste management complex, new composting capacity, additional bulking facilities for recyclables and additional civic amenity sites and waste transfer stations.