"The programme was established to help accelerate the delivery of the major infrastructure required to treat residual waste without compromising efforts to minimise waste and increase recycling levels"
Defra has announced today a list of four innovative PFI projects that have been successful in the current round of appraisal.
The projects to deliver major infrastructure for dealing with England's waste have been given the go ahead to progress to the next stage in securing Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits under Defra's Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme (WIDP).
The successful authorities are:
- South Tyne & Wear, comprising of Gateshead MBC, South Tyneside & Sunderland City Council.
- South London Partnership, comprising of the London Boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton & Sutton
- Suffolk CC
- Bradford MBC
Bradford in particular looks set to be one of the first local authorities to adopt the autoclave treatment of wastes following a recent council meeting. The treatment system would be provided through a partnership of preferred bidders Yorwaste, the North Yorkshire LAWDC, and Bradford based Waddington recycling.
The raw material - municipal waste
The projects have been invited to submit Outline Business Cases (OBC) to WIDP by 31 October 2007. If approved the schemes will be advertised in Official Journal of European Union (OJEU) in Spring 2008.
WIDP brings together the project delivery activities of Defra's Waste Implementation Programme, Partnerships UK and 4Ps.
The programme was established to help accelerate the delivery of the major infrastructure required to treat residual waste without compromising efforts to minimise waste and increase recycling levels.
Only a combination of these activities will allow the UK to meet its obligations under the EU Landfill Directive by dramatically reducing the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill.
WIDP provides authorities with high quality comprehensive support, including financial help through PFI credits where appropriate, grants and consultancy advice. PFI award rounds have been introduced to give every authority a chance to submit an application for credits in a fair and transparent process.
The 2006 revised waste PFI credit criteria emphasises the economic benefits possible from collaborative working by local authorities.
There is a two-step application process, which consists of an Expression of Interest (EOI) and an Outline Business Plan (OBC).
Further information
The closing date for EOI in the next PFI award round is 30 September 2007. Successful authorities will be required to submit their OBC by April 2008 with approval expected in the Summer.