EXCLUSIVE: The West of England Partnership has shortlisted three companies for parts of a £21.2 million per annum residual waste treatment contract.
Viridor, Suez and ETM Recycling Limited are all set to secure parts of the 10-year contract, which will commence on 1 April 2020, with an optional 10-year extension.
Under the proposed contract, Viridor is to treat up to 120,000 tonnes of residual waste at its Avonmouth energy recovery facility which is currently under construction; up to 50,000 tonnes will be sent to the Severnside Energy Recovery Facility operated by Suez; and, ETM Recycling is to treat up to 45,000 tonnes of bulky residual waste.
Viridor’s Avonmouth ERF, currently under construction, is one of three facilities shortlisted to receive waste on behalf of WoEP
There is no guaranteed minimum tonnage within the proposed contract and the awards will provide an allowance for a 5% year on year contract volume reduction. In the early stages of procurement, the contract was forecast to cost in the region of £70-100 per tonne.
Landfill
According to a spokesperson for Bristol city council – part of the WoEP – the aim of the new contracts “is to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill and find a long term stable and affordable treatment solution for the residual waste generated by the four councils.”
West of England Partnership also includes the unitary authorities of Bath & North East Somerset council, North Somerset council and South Gloucestershire council.
Under the current contract with the partnership, 120,8000 tonnes of residual waste is sent to a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility previously operated by New Earth Solutions (now Panda). This contract expires in March 2020.
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, a spokesperson for the WoEP, said: “The MBT process allows for a very small quantity of waste which either can’t be recycled or composted or sent for energy recovery to be sent to landfill. Between April 18 and March 19 less than 100 tonnes was landfilled through the MBT process. In previous years the MBT has landfilled more, but is dependent on thermal treatment contracts. In 2017/18 the tonnage to landfill was nearer 4% of the total input, but still relatively small given the total input.”
It is understood that some of the councils have separate arrangements in place currently for managing residual waste, with some of this waste being sent to landfill.
Suez’ Severnside Energy Recovery Centre is is also set to secure work with the partnership
Single procurement
Documents relating to the contract note that combining all the tonnage into a single procurement and then allocating lots “was designed to maximise competition and to ensure that any spare capacity in existing treatment facilities can be utilised to WoEP’s advantage”.
The procurement approach also provides for residual waste of a large bulky nature e.g. sofas, mattresses and other difficult to recycle materials, the document states. This waste stream is currently sent to landfill “but could be shredded with recyclables being extracted and remaining material diverted from landfill,” the document notes.
It is understood that ETM Recycling is currently refurbishing its facility to manage bulky residual waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
