"In partnership with Veolia, we will be introducing a service that delivers on our ambitious targets, provides a cost-effective service to our residents and is in the best interests of the environment"
Cllr Paul Noblet, Southwark Council's executive member for environment
Southwark, London: Southwark Council selected a partner last week for its waste scheme for the Borough, which it describes as one of the most ambitious in the UK.
The Council has now approved in principle the 25-year PFI scheme, subject to final contract negotiations with Veolia Environmental Services Plc, the preferred bidder. Veolia was awarded preferred bidder status by Southwark in March 2007.
The “groundbreaking partnership” is expected to increase the rate of recycling to almost 50 per cent by 2021, to fulfil the Southwark’s ambition to have the highest recycling rate of any urban authority in the UK.
Subject to satisfactory completion of negotiations, Veolia will construct a purpose built, state-of-the-art waste and recycling facility on the Old Kent Road which is programmed to start operation in 2011.
About a quarter of Southwark’s rubbish is sent to the South East London Combined Heat and Power (SELCHP) incinerator plant in Lewisham, where it is incinerated and electricity generated.
The remaining wastes, around 90, 000 tonnes every year, is sent to landfill in Essex. That amount needs to be dramatically reduced by 2020, as Southwark will be able to send less than 25,000 tonnes to landfill.
Veolia's proposal
Veolia’s proposal was for a fully integrated strategy for waste recycling and recovery which included relocating all waste management activities to the former gas works site on the Old Kent Road .
The contract will provide a new and improved household waste recycling site, enhanced collection services, sorting of separated recyclable materials, and mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) of all residual waste.
Southwark Council secured £34.5m in January 2005 through the government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to fund a 25-year integrated contract which aims to recycle half of all rubbish and divert three quarters of its expected 205,000 tonnes of waste away from landfill by 2020.
The Veolia proposals also leave the door open for the inclusion of further innovative new waste processing technologies as they become technically and commercially viable. It is proposed to produce waste derived fuel from the MBT plant in due course
Southwark says that the facility will be a one stop shop for everything from collection, to processing, to the education of residents about the importance of recycling and waste minimisation.
Council comments
Cllr Paul Noblet, Southwark Council's executive member for environment, said:
“We selected Veolia because they share our vision of a sustainable, integrated service that is fit for the future.
“In partnership with Veolia, we will be introducing a service that delivers on our ambitious targets, provides a cost-effective service to our residents and is in the best interests of the environment.
“We are proud of the progress we’ve already made - in the past five years we’ve quadrupled the rate of recycling in the borough. But we realise this is not enough. We are one of the few urban boroughs in the UK to think much further ahead and plan for the long-term needs of our borough and the environment.
“We can’t afford to ignore either the costs to our residents of failing to meet recycling targets - or the environmental impacts of continuing to send our waste to landfills. Every year Southwark residents generate approximately 110,000 tonnes of rubbish. That's almost a tonne per household in the borough, enough to fill Millwall Football Stadium or the Tate Modern to the roof.
“That’s why we are putting in place a service and the technology that will meet our needs for the next 20 years and beyond. We look forward to working in partnership with Veolia on this.”
GLA contract
The Southwark contract follows hard on the heels of Veolia announcing that it has regained the contract to provide waste collection and street cleansing services to the Greater London Authority (GLA) owned Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square Garden.
In addition, the GLA has awarded Veolia the grounds maintenance contract for Parliament Square and the toilet maintenance for Trafalgar Square for the facilities situated under the North Terrace.
The new GLA contract commenced on 8 January 2008 and will last three years, with an option to extend for a further two years based on performance.