Waste treatment and disposal
Oxfordshire is among the best in the country at recycling, with a current rate of more than 40 per cent and a longer-term target of 55 per cent (five per cent more than the current national target).
Avoiding waste is the best answer of all and Oxfordshire has the second lowest amount of waste produced per person of any county council. Oxfordshire Waste Partnership Joint Waste Strategy sets out how we'll improve on this current performance still further.
However, this will still leave a substantial amount of waste to be disposed of. EU and government laws will mean councils that send too much waste to landfill sites face heavy fines. This means that, as well as reducing, re-using and increasing recycling, Oxfordshire also needs to treat waste rather than landfilling it.
Tendering process
A tendering process was started in March 2007 and companies were invited to bid with proposals for treating Oxfordshire's household waste. Oxfordshire County Council, which leads the tendering process, stated that it wanted value for money and safe systems but did not specify which technology should be used.
Only two companies are now left in that process - with bids having been examined against stringent technical and funding criteria. Viridor Waste Management is offering an energy from waste incinerator at Ardley in north Oxfordshire and Waste Recycling Group (WRG) is offering a similar facility at Sutton Courtenay near Didcot. Both companies will now be asked to submit their proposals in more detail and, following rigorous evaluation, one of these will be chosen. A final decision will be announced early in 2009.
Each company will need to apply for planning permission for what they propose, and this will be subject to full consultation with local people and statutory organisations.
About energy from waste
Energy from waste (EfW) is the name given to the incineration of waste at very high temperatures and under controlled conditions to produce heat. The heat is used to produce electricity and can also be used to produce steam or hot water for industrial or domestic use. The amount of electricity produced depends on the size of the plant, and the production of electricity by burning waste offsets the use of fossil fuels.
European countries with the highest recycling rates also have the highest use of energy from waste incinerators. There are already approximately:
- 20 such facilities in Britain
- 128 in France
- 65 in Germany
- 30 in Denmark
- 29 in Sweden
- 28 in Switzerland.
Strict rules
Any treatment facility will be permitted by the Environment Agency, which is responsible for regulating waste treatment plants. It has strict rules for such facilities that aim to protect the environment.
The Health Protection Agency has a responsibility to protect human health. The HPA has issued a Position statement on energy from waste from the Health Protection Agency (pdf format, 33 Kb). PDF doc to be supplied.
For the latest information on the residual waste tendering process visit Oxfordshire County Council pages on alternatives to landfill.
