In its first full budget approval since ending its contract with Viridor, the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) has approved a £91.9 million budget for 2018/19 with a zero levy increase.
And, the authority has reported that it has now reached a recycling rate of 50%.
The GMWDA has confirmed that the budget, agreed at an authority meeting earlier this month, includes the return of the 2017/18 ‘invest to save’ increase in levy of £77.7 million, which was not needed to deliver GMWDA’s “ambitious savings programme”.
The GMWDA are includes six Manchester councils (Picture: Ed Reardon, shutterstock)
It explained that in order “to mitigate the burden of the levy on GMWDA’s nine districts there has been a corresponding increase in the GMCA levy (transport element), which in turn, reduces the impact to an average increase of 0% (zero).” Last year the waste levy rose by 5.3% and the intention is to only increase it by inflation in 2019/20.
Going forward, said the authority, “it is expected that the levy will increase broadly in line with inflation, with the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) projections being 3% in 2019/20 – dropping to 1.7% in 2020/21 and 1.6% in 2021/22 (all figures excluding the switch of levy resources with GMCA Transport)”.
Greater Manchester is the UK’s largest combined waste authority with 2.2 million people and handling in excess of 1 million tonnes of material per annum – which the authority puts at accounting for 4% of England’s waste.
The budget, said GMWDA, “allows the continuation of high levels of landfill diversion – currently running at 85% – an increase from 80% in 2009 when facilities transformation programme started. Similarly progress has been made in boosting recycling rates, from an average of 32% to over 50%.”
Control
Councillor Nigel Murphy, chair of the GMWDA, said the authority is on track to meet a 60% recycling rate by 2025
Commenting on the final budget, which is the last it will agree before its merger into the wider Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on the 1 April 2018, Councillor Nigel Murphy, Chair of GMWDA, said: “The budget for 2018/19 contains savings delivered from the GMWDA’s move away from a PFI arrangement to one that has allowed us to take back control to drive savings – initially on debt financing – but also by changing the way that waste is processed.”
Cllr Murphy added: “In line with these savings and, despite a reduction in the budget, very high levels of recycling and diversion continue to be achieved. We are well on track with our aim to reach 60% recycling by 2025 and 90% landfill diversion by 2021. The ability to deliver all those environmental and financial benefits – against a 0% budget increase – is a testament to the support for recycling from our residents and the work that the Authority has achieved over its 32 year history.”
GMWDA provides waste disposal services for 1,009,815 households in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford. It handles around 4% of England’s municipal waste.
Viridor
GMWDA signed the 25 year Recycling and Waste Management PFI Contract with Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) (VLGM) Limited on the 8th April 2009. The contract included a £631 million construction programme, creating a network of recycling facilities. The contract was widely seen as the most complex of its kind in Western Europe and involved major capital investment.
The contract arrangement with Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) ended on 29 September 2017 and ownership passed to the GMWDA.
The decision to end the contract has broadly been explained on three counts. One is that the contract for the Greater Manchester part of the project was effectively on a long-term fixed rate mortgage and a cheaper rate was obtained by ending it early (even though penalties were paid). A second is from operational savings and a third from ‘mortgage’ type savings on the Runcorn energy from waste side of the project.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
