The North West Region Waste Management Group (NWRWMG) has announced the two bidders through to the final stage of its £500m public procurement exercise to deliver new waste management facilities for the area.
NWRWMG, which is made up of seven councils stretching from Moyle to Strabane, is responsible for delivering new infrastructure that will reduce the environmental impact of waste and ensure the region meets European Union waste targets.
The shortlisted bidders are waste specialists Greenstar Holdings Ltd and the Brickkiln / United Utilities / Sisk Consortium. The companies have put forward detailed proposals on their plans to develop a combination of Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) and Energy Recovery technologies to treat waste which can’t be recycled.
The bidders have now been invited to their final Competitive Dialogue sessions and will shortly be required to submit Final Tenders.
Councillor Evelyne Robinson, NWRWMG Chairman, said:
“This is one of the largest and most complex procurement projects ever undertaken in the North West and will radically modernise and improve the region’s waste management effort. The technologies employed at the new waste facilities will bring the North West in to line with those European countries at the forefront in dealing with unrecyclable waste and ensure we avoid potentially severe EU fines for failing to reduce our reliance on landfill.
“The NWRWMG has carefully managed the procurement process since it was launched at the start of last year, closely scrutinising each bid at every stage of the process to ensure we can achieve the most economically advantageous waste management solution for the region.
“We are pleased with the calibre of the final two solutions and look forward to announcing the preferred bidder in spring 2011, with the new waste facilities set to be operational before the end of 2014.”
Cllr. Robinson added:
“The new waste facilities are essential if we are to meet European waste targets, but their introduction is only one element of the NWRWMG’s multi-faceted approach to waste management. We also need to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ as much waste as possible and are working in partnership with the public to ensure everyone continues to realise their responsibility to view waste as a potential resource and not just an unwanted by-product.
“Great progress has been made in this area but it’s vital the hard work continues. For more information on how you can ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ more of your household waste, log on to our recently revamped website, www.northwestwaste.org.uk, or read our bi-annual newsletter, Waste Watch.”
The European Landfill Directive requires that by 2020 the amount of material being sent to landfill must be reduced to just 35% of 1995 levels. NWRWMG is also seeking to raise recycling and composting rates throughout the region from the current level of 35% to at least 50%, also by 2020.
