Information on Loughborough

Three bidders in frame for waste contract

Posted on 21/07/2009

Leicestershire Councty Council Highways, Transportation & Waste Management

21 July 2009

Three bidders in frame for waste contract

The number of companies competing to create a major waste treatment scheme in Leicestershire has been narrowed down to three.

The bidders - Biffa, United Utilities/John Laing Investments and Veolia - have been chosen from a list of eight and are interested in developing a multi-million pound facility to treat up to 180,000 tonnes of waste each year by 2040.

The companies will now be asked to produce detailed proposals explaining how they would deal with waste remaining after recycling and composting from 2015 onwards.

These proposals need to be submitted by December.

Recycling more of Leicestershire’s waste and reducing the amount of rubbish sent to landfill are top priorities for Leicestershire and by 2017, the aim is for 58% of the county's waste to be recycled or composted - the county is well on the way to achieving this and has a current rate of 52%. However some rubbish will always be left over which will need to be treated or disposed of.

Tony Kershaw, Cabinet member for waste, said: "The shortlisted bidders are experienced companies and I am pleased we are working with them to deliver a new facility in Leicestershire.

"Through recycling and composting, we are already diverting 167,000 tonnes of material away from landfill - this project will help to cut the amount further.

"We want to find the best solution to treat waste but we are only part of the way through the process and we’ve made no decision on the technology and no decision on a site.”

A final decision won't be taken until late 2010. The facility will be built by 2015.

Last October, the Government announced it would provide £86.6 million towards the Leicestershire scheme under a Private Finance Initiative.

Notes:

To achieve the best solution for Leicestershire, this procurement process is following a procedure which allows the County Council to enter into dialogue with the bidders over a period of time. Details about potential locations or technologies are confidential to the bidders at this stage.

No decision has been made on a site. The Government’s environment department, DEFRA, advised the County Council to make different sites available. The County Council will be offering its current Whetstone waste site and a site at Bardon’s Interlink Business Park, or companies can suggest their own site.

The Private Finance Initiative is a Government scheme that allows local authorities to buy a service from a private sector company, rather than borrow money to build and operate its own facilities. The Government PFI credits are a financial contribution towards the capital cost of the construction of the facilities. They are not a loan and are not repaid by the local authority. The local authority will meet the remaining capital cost, plus the operational cost, through payments over the life of the contract.