South London Waste Partnership has announced that Viridor is its preferred bidder to treat the four partnership councils' residual waste over the next 25 years.
Today's announcement comes after a thorough procurement process and assessment of submitted solutions to ensure the South London Waste Partnership – which includes the London Boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton – meets its statutory landfill diversion targets and avoids hefty landfill levies and fines – landfill tax is set to reach £80 per tonne in 2014.
At present over 200,000 tonnes of waste from households in South London go to landfill, that will change with the proposed solution, which importantly would provide flexibility to handle changes in waste arisings throughout the lifetime of the facility.
Viridor managing director Mike Hellings said: "We are proud to have been chosen by the partnership, one of the most innovative groups of councils working together, as their preferred bidder. Our proposals have been designed to provide the partnership with a safe, robust and cost-effective solution to meet its needs and to complement its already successful recycling and waste prevention initiatives.
"I would like to congratulate our team and we all look forward to progressing this project, including undertaking public consultation with the community about our proposals, prior to the preparation of a planning application."
Viridor's proposed solution comprises developing a state-of-the-art Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) facility at its existing landfill and recycling site in Beddington, Sutton, which will have a capacity to process up to 275,000 tonnes of waste.
Viridor's £200 million-proposal would play an essential role in moving towards a green economy by creating around 40 permanent jobs and many more during construction.
Wider environmental benefits will include the landfill diversion of up to 95 per cent of waste delivered to the facility and the generation of up to 26MW of electricity which will power the facility itself and supply over 22MW to the National Grid.
In addition, the proposed ERF would enable completion and restoration of the landfill site sooner than currently anticipated, creating habitats for wildlife to thrive and an open space for the local community.
In order to develop a planning application for the proposed facility, Viridor will undertake a thorough consultation with stakeholders and the local community. It will provide an opportunity for consultees across south London to provide feedback, ask questions and find out more about the scope of the development and benefits for the local economy and wider resource efficiency.
Details on the consultation are being finalised and information will be disseminated shortly. In the meantime, people who wish to register an interest in being kept informed throughout the process can email [email protected].
Notes to editors
- Recovering energy from waste is a well established practice which is safe, robust and cost-effective. There are already 429 ERF operational plants in Europe, providing effective diversion of waste from landfill and an alternative to fossil-fuel electricity generation.
- Viridor currently accepts, transports, sorts and markets all recyclables – including organic materials – from the four London Borough members of the SLWP, enabling the councils to maximise recycling rates.