Organic waste treatment project for Welsh Councils

Local Partnerships delivers 15-year organic waste treatment project for Cardiff and The Vale of Glamorgan Councils

Local Partnerships has provided a suite of specialist, tailored training courses before and during the procurement, to ensure that the competitive dialogue process was successful.

Recycling targets

Wales has recycling targets of 70% by 2024/25 with £200 per tonne fines for falling short of this target, so every single tonne of waste that is recycled is important for Local Authorities in striving towards this target. Cardiff and the Vale are currently running at just over 50% recycling, so when the new facilities come on stream in early 2017, it is hoped that this target will be achievable.

Another crucial success factor has been the investment from the Welsh Government to support the procurement phase of the project as part of the Welsh Government’s Food Waste Programme.

The Cardiff Organic Waste Treatment Project is the fourth food waste treatment project or “Hub” to be delivered in Wales under the Welsh government’s food waste treatment programme to have been signed so far, encompassing 10 of the 22 Local Authorities in Wales.

The technology

The Anaerobic Digestion technology to be operated by Kelda Organic Energy Ltd will deliver a range of environmentally sustainable benefits, such as the production of renewable energy, carbon reduction and a PAS 110 compliant digestate that will offer a nutrient-rich fertiliser for arable farmers. The 35,000 tonne, 2MW Anaerobic Digestion facility will create renewable energy capable of powering around 1,500 homes. It also benefits from government feed-in tariffs, offering a further commercial contribution to the project. There is also the possibility for heat off-take to adjacent businesses.

Both the food and green waste facilities have already secured planning permission thereby removing one of the primary risks affecting a project’s deliverability.

The organic waste treatment project has received professional advice during the procurement from Pinsent Masons (legal), Grant Thornton (finance), Mott MacDonald (technical) and Marsh (insurance).

This has been a very rewarding project to manage as I this has been from inception to financial close. My colleagues and I at Local Partnerships are delighted to have reached financial close as the Project has faced many complex challenges over a full competitive dialogue process. We are especially proud to have helped the Councils secure high performance recycling facilities, underpinned by a robust contract and fair economic price.

Director, James Buckingham

After this extremely successful project we’re looking forward to working with the remaining Food Waste Treatment Hubs in South Wales to help them deliver similar procurement successes and to providing Transactor services to Cardiff’s Contract Management function.

Programme Director, Howel Jones