Long-term Treatment

Leicestershire has one of the best recycling rates in the country – we were the top county partnership in 2008/9 with 52%. But not everything can be recycled or composted – and what is leftover generally goes to landfill.

Part of our strategy to manage waste is to provide new waste treatment facilities to deal with the majority of the residual household rubbish that is currently sent to landfill.

The County Council is leading on the procurement of new facilities which will operate for a 25 year period and will be able to deal with approximately 180,000 tonnes of Leicestershire's rubbish per year by 2040.

What has happened so far?

• In September 2008, the County Council secured ‘Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits’ worth £86.6m.
  
• In October 2008, Cabinet approved the commencement of the procurement process and the evaluation methods.
  
• Following the submission of pre-qualification questionnaires, eight companies/consortia were selected. In July 2009, three bidders were shortlisted: Biffa, United Utilities/John Laing and Veolia.
  
• The procurement process is continuing - and allows the County Council to continue detailed dialogue with the bidders.

What are the possible solutions?

Two companies have been shortlisted to build a new waste treatment facility for Leicestershire.

Following detailed evaluation against set criteria, the County Council has shortlisted the following, in alphabetical order:

• Osiris (a consortium made up of United Utilities Waste Management Ltd, Costain Engineering and Construction Ltd and John Laing Investments Ltd) is proposing a mechanical treatment facility (MTF) to produce a refuse derived fuel (RDF) for gasification. The facility would be located at the council-owned Bardon site.
  
  
• Veolia Environmental Services is proposing an energy from waste facility which would be located at the council-owned Bardon site.

Both of these proposals generate electricity and, in addition, would also be capable of generating heat.

The procurement process is continuing - and allows the County Council to continue detailed dialogue with the bidders.

The council will invite final tenders later this year. Subject to planning consent and construction, it is hoped that the facility will be open by April 2015.

How can I find out more?

The County Council’s website contains further information regarding the procurement process.

Please visit www.leics.gov.uk/longterm_waste_procurement to find out more where you can also download the following documents:

• Fact sheets which explore the process, policies, finance and options
• Press releases which have been issued throughout the process
• Cabinet reports and other documents regarding the procurement