Buckinghamshire county council has placed three companies on a shortlist for its multi-million pound residual waste treatment contract.
The county authority has stated that it has narrowed down 12 proposals for a 25-year thermal treatment deal to bids from waste firms Veolia Environmental Services, Waste Recycling Group and US incinerator specialist Covanta Energy Limited. The thermal treatment plant passed the pre-qualification stage last year
All three companies are proposing to build and operate energy from waste plants. These plants will be able to create both heat and electricity from 210,000 tonnes of waste a year by 2020. The capital cost will run around £100 million.
The move comes after a decision by Buckinghamshire council in January 2007 to opt for thermal treatment solution for the county’s residual household waste. The council had compared thermal treatment to mechanical biological treatment.
Explaining why Buckinghamshire council had opted for EfW, a spokeswoman stated: “EfW is a tried, tested and proven technology which is run to strict environmental standards. It also has the added advantage of producing electricity which can be used to power local homes or be sold to the national grid.”
Some 275,000 tonnes of household waste is generated in Buckinghamshire every year, with 64% going to landfill.
However, Buckinghamshire is eager to divert waste from landfill after its existing contracts come to an end between 2009 and 2012, due to rising landfill tax and impending European penalties.
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