Viridor Preferred Bidder For South London Waste Partnership
16 December 2011
The South London Waste Partnership has announced leading resource recovery and renewable energy company Viridor as 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.
Over 200,000 tonnes of waste from households in South London currently goes to landfill, and will change with the proposed solution, which 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."
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 £200m 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.
Darrel Moore
