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You are here: CIWM  >  Publications  >  Latest News  >  Next Generation Of Project Reduce Goes Out To Tender

Next Generation Of Project Reduce Goes Out To Tender

17 June 2011

At a meeting of Full Cabinet this week Milton Keynes Council (MKC) was given the go-ahead to commence procurement for the design, build and operation of a Residual Waste Treatment Facility

The cost of disposing of residual waste to landfill is set to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, partly because of the landfill tax escalator, where landfill tax is increased year on year, to drive waste away from landfill in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The council therefore needs to establish sustainable, value for money and affordable waste management services, in particular with regard to the management of residual waste.

These aims for the treatment of residual waste were previously being delivered though a joint project with Northamptonshire County Council (NCC), known as "Project Reduce".

This was well advanced in its procurement programme when, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October 2010, the project was notified that it would no longer receive the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits that had been provisionally awarded, resulting in the project being abandoned by both parties.

Milton Keynes Council has decided to continue the "asset based" approach adopted by Project Reduce, which is similar to that of the approach taken for the council's Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) where the council built and owns the assets, but the facility is managed by a private sector partner.

MKC proposes to use the Competitive Dialogue procurement process, having first selected suitable bidders by using an extended Pre Qualification Questionnaire. Some 3 to 5 bidders will be invited to participate in dialogue. The arrangements will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union to begin the procurement process.

Battery Recycling (Milton Keynes Initiative)

Household battery recycling is being introduced across Milton Keynes from July onwards. Residents will receive a small yellow collection bag featuring details of the new scheme - this will arrive with their next delivery of pink recycling and black refuse sacks which takes place between mid July and the end of September.

The UK currently throws away 600 million batteries each year, most of which end up in landfill sites. They need to be recycled as they contain acids and heavy metals, which can leak into soil and pollute the environment.

The new scheme will enable residents to fill up the bag with several used batteries - it is then sealed and placed on top of the green food and garden waste bin at the boundary of the property on the usual collection day. Collectors from the council's waste contractor Serco will leave a replacement bag tucked under the lid of the green bin.

The scheme works best if the bag contains 10 or more batteries for collection, but should not be overfull. Battery sizes AAA, AA, C and D, as well as button, mobile, laptop and rechargeable batteries are accepted in the scheme. Car batteries or similar cannot be accepted but these can be taken to the Community Recycling Centres at Newport Pagnell, Bleak Hall and New Bradwell.

This year's pink and black sack delivery brings with it further changes. In an effort to encourage recycling and to help residents avoid the need to obtain additional pink sacks, each household will receive a roll of 80 sacks - 20 more than previously.

Residents using the successful food and garden waste collections, combined with the pink sack and blue box recycling scheme, should find they have very little non-recyclable waste left to put in their black sacks. As a result, the number of free black sacks delivered to each household has been reduced by half to 26 sacks - one per fortnight. The council's accepts any type of black refuse sack available from retail outlets, but additional black sacks are available to purchase at £2.60 per roll of 52 from all three Community Recycling Centres and also Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council.

Both the pink and black sacks will feature a slightly different design - while marginally shorter the sacks hold the same volume and are the same width. The difference is in the seal at the bottom, which uses less material - this presents a cost saving to the council and is more environmentally-friendly.

For more information visit www.milton-keynes.gov.uk