Recycling and resource management company, SITA UK, today (1 February) announced that it has been awarded an eight-year waste management contract by Durham County Council.
The deal, worth a reported £112.8 million, will commence in June of this year and will see SITA send 140,000 tonnes of residual household waste to its new 256,000 tonne per annum energy-from-waste (EfW) incineration facility at Haverton Hill, Teesside (expected to come on stream in 2014). In the meantime, waste will be sent for processing at other SITA facilities.
According to SITA, the waste, which is currently landfilled, has the potential to produce as much as 10 megawatts of electricity per year – enough to power 17,000 homes.
If successful, Durham Council has the option to extend the contract by a further four years, increasing its value to approximately £158.9 million.
Chief Executive officer at SITA UK, David Palmer-Jones, said: “We are very pleased to have been appointed to work with Durham County Council to help put their residual waste to good use.
“We are also pleased to further expand our activities in the North East of England, where we are currently investing millions of pounds in modern waste management facilities.”
Corporate Director of Resources at Durham County Council, Don Mclure, added: “We are delighted to be working with SITA UK, whose innovative treatment processes will help ensure the amount of County Durham’s rubbish that gets buried in the ground is kept to an absolute minimum.
“The Council has a target of diverting 75 per cent of household waste away from landfill by 2020 and the new contract will ensure this target will be met and exceeded, with around 90 per cent of waste diverted as the contract progresses.”
This follows news earlier this week that SITA has pulled out from the procurement tender for the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP). The project, sponsored by the Welsh Government, will see approximately 150,000 tonnes of non-recyclable residual waste diverted from landfill per annum.
Read more about SITA UK.
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