Essex wins £100m PFI funding for waste management facility

Defra, the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has awarded the waste disposal partnership of Essex County Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council – The Essex Waste Partnership – £100.9 million in PFI credits to develop the facility.

The tendering process for the waste management facility is set to begin in November with the contract scheduled to be awarded in winter 2011. The facility will include new treatment facilities using Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT). MBT is a form of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion.

The planned waste treatment facilities will divert an additional 185,000 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill per year by 2020.

The region currently generates approximately 780,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year and Landfill Tax alone cost the Essex Waste Partnership approximately £14.2 million. Despite expected reductions in the amount of waste produced and increased recycling rates, it is predicted that there will still be around 350,000 tonnes of household waste that cannot be recycled in Essex. This will be treated in the new facilities.

The MBT technology will be able to remove most of the biological activity in the waste so that it becomes stable, meaning that when the treated waste is landfilled almost no gases are released.

The Partnership said about its plans: “The new waste treatment scheme is not expected to cost Essex and Southend taxpayers significantly more than the current methods of waste disposal, but would bring distinct environmental benefits.

It is expected the new facilities will become operational in 2014/15. The project is expected to create approximately 80 jobs during construction and a further 43 once the plant is operational.