Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) has announced the selection of the Viridor and Laing Roads consortium as preferred bidder for its £3 billion waste PFI contract. The Authority's contract is the largest in the country and possibly in western Europe.
The GMWDA serves approximately 958,000 households and a resident population of over 2 million, hence the substantial scale of the PFI.
In 2005-06, the GMWDA and the nine Districts of Greater Manchester which it serves, together recycled over 170,000 tonnes of waste.
This represented a recycling rate of 22% overall. This figure was 2% above the 20% combined rate set by the Government for Greater Manchester.
The rate had almost trebled within the previous 3 years.
The areas covered by the Authority comprise the Districts of Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford. The other council from the old GMC is Wigan, which is itself a statutory waste disposal authority in its own right as it chose an independent path when the Greater Manchester Council was dissolved in 1985.
The reserve bidder for the PFI contract was also announced as Sita, which headed a consortium including the Royal Bank of Scotland and Peel Holdings. A reserve bidder is established in case negotiations with the preferred bidder do not go to plan.
Viridor's journey began when chosen as 1 of 5 contractors announced in May 2005 by GMWDA, to be shortlisted to go through to the ISOP (invitation to submit outline proposals) stage. The other shortlisted contractors were Onyx, Shanks, Sita, and WRG.
Refuse derived fuel
Greater Manchester has been pursuing the use of refuse derived fuel for some time and this is likely to be the chosen route as the proposals pan out.
The Authority considers that power generation would help reduce local dependence on fossil fuels and alternative energy sources such as nuclear power.
The Authority has been exploring a contract for the use of refuse derived fuel that is separate from its waste management PFI contract and is also considering the possibility of a regional solution perhaps involving Merseyside or Cheshire.
GMWDA has held substantial discussions with industrial and commercial organisations across the North West that have substantial energy demands. This dialogue has identified that a number of companies are keen to look at the possibility of developing a combined heat and power plant close to their industrial facility and meeting their energy needs from this source.
Discussions have also been held with the Government about their willingness to support Greater Manchester’s efforts to develop the market for the use of refuse derived fuel and Ben Bradshaw has confirmed that this is the case. Pfi is a possible option here.
It is likely that the Authority would be in a position to sign a fuel use contract in 2008.
According to a GMWDA spokesperson, “The Government has now identified that there are big challenges in managing our household waste in a more appropriate way, securing our future energy needs as the UK becomes a net importer of fossil fuels such as gas and oil, whilst also reducing carbon emissions in line with tackling climate change."
GMWDA has an existing thermal recovery facility at Bolton that makes a useful contribution in saving 100,000 tonnes of waste from going to landfill and generates electricity to supply the national grid. However GMC would like to see new facilities, located close to industrial and commercial concerns, that use a stabilised and refined fuel product instead of fossil fuels, that are designed to the highest standards, and that allow for businesses to use both the heat and power that are generated from high quality power generation units.