New solution sought for west Cheshire's waste

Members of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s (CWAC) executive agreed to procure a new contract to process waste that cannot be recycled or re-used, on June 6.

No preferred solution has been put forward and the procurement exercise will be open to all suppliers.

The issue of waste disposal in the borough came under the spotlight in March, when we reported that the Cheshire Waste Private Finance Initiative (PFI) - a joint venture between CWAC and Cheshire East Council - was scrapped following withdrawal of government funding.

The lengthy procurement process for the PFI, during which Viridor was selected as preferred bidder for a site in Lostock Gralam, cost the taxpayer £4.5million.

Talking of the new contract, which will solely focus on waste disposal in the CWAC borough, Clr Lynn Riley said: “Procurement for this contract will take a very different approach to the PFI which was a lengthy, highly prescriptive process, dependent on high levels of subsidy.

“This time we do not have to specify a preferred solution which means we can take full advantage of the market and range of technologies to find the best solution for Cheshire west - a process that served us well with our waste collection contract.

“Since we inherited the current waste strategy from the legacy authorities, there have been marked changes in our recycle, reduce and re-use agenda and we are producing less waste every year.

“Our new waste collection contract will drive our recycling rates from 49 per cent today to 63 per cent in the first year and we have ambitions to move to 70 per cent within five years.

“This has significantly affected the tonnages that we are now looking to dispose of.”

The new contract would run for a maximum of 10 years and cover the treatment process, provision of waste transfer stations and haulage arrangements.

It would take effect following the expiry of the current landfill contract in March 2014.

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