Suffolk County Council has selected Sita UK, a recycling and resource management company and a subsidiary of Suez Environment, as preferred bidder for a 25-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract to manage household waste in the region.
The total contract is worth GBP1bn (total revenues from Suffolk County Council, third party waste and sale of electricity) over 25 years to design, build, finance and operate an energy-from-waste facility with a capacity of up to 269.000 tonnes per year, which will generate electricity for the equivalent of 30,000 homes.
Suez Environment will provide around GBP180m investment to build the energy-from-waste facility in Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, which is located in the East of England, on a site selected by Suffolk County Council. The negotiations should be finalized in September, 2010.
Sita UK has developed a number of PPP (Public Private Partnership) contracts in the regions of Surrey, South Gloucestershire, Kirklees, Cornwall, Northumberland, Aberdeen, the Isle of Man and Teesside. In the waste sector, this type of partnership was developed to allow British local authorities to develop additional waste management facilities other than landfill.
Jean Chaussade, CEO of Suez Environment, said: ”This is an important contract for Suez Environment and Sita UK, which is a recognized expert in waste management and PFI projects.
”We look forward to supporting the county of Suffolk in its commitment to reduce its environmental impact and to help achieve its ambition to become England’s greenest county. Our project will allow the region to reduce CO2 emissions by 75000 tonnes and produce green energy.”