Earlier this month, West Sussex council signed a 25-year recycling and waste handling contract with Viridor Waste Management (see letsrecycle.com story). This contract received £25 million in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits from DEFRA to support investment into waste infrastructure, including a material recycling facility and local civic amenity sites.
Now the county council has revealed that it will pursue PFI support for its long-term waste disposal contract.
In a council meeting last week, cabinet member for strategic planning and environment Steve Waight said: “We will be seeking government funding support for the contract and officers are having initial meetings with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to pursue this.”
His statement comes as council officers begin to prepare a strategy for a major waste disposal contract, which is expected to be let in 2006/07.
Incineration
Cllr Waight also said that incineration is a ‘last resort’ for the waste disposal contract and he did not think any incinerators would be built in the county before 2015.
“I expect incineration to be the last resort. I do not believe that we will see incineration in West Sussex before 2015, and I am asking officers to take this as the guiding objective in devising the strategy for the contract,” he said.
He added that the council will now consider other technologies for the contract but central to the council’s plans is waste minimisation and meeting the 45% target for 2015 set out in the contract with Viridor.
“I must make it clear that as a responsible waste disposal authority, the county council has a duty to look at every available technology and that includes incineration. But, I want to put the emphasis on reducing the amount of waste we all produce and recycling above the 45% target that we have already set,” said Cllr Waight.
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