Materials Resource Management Contract
Journey from rubbish to
resource
Why do we need the Materials Resource
Management Contract?
As the Wastes Disposal Authority, the County Council
has a duty to arrange for the disposal of rubbish from our homes
and any commercial waste (municipal waste) collected and delivered
to it by the district and borough councils of West Sussex, who are
Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs).
Whilst these 2 functions are separate statutory requirements,
the local authorities in West Sussex have agreed to work together
to develop and manage our major recycling and disposal
contracts.
Approximately half a million tonnes of rubbish are collected
each year in West Sussex, and the County Council has previously
decided this should be managed via two discrete contracts:
- The Recycling and Wastes Handling Contract (RWHC).
- The Materials Resource Management Contract (MRMC).
The first contract commenced in April 2004 and is known as
'Reclaim West Sussex'. This service is provided by
Viridor Waste Management Limited and more information can be found
by visiting the 'Reclaim
West Sussex' web site.
The County Council, together with its district and borough
council partners, is currently procuring the MRMC under competitive
tender. The MRMC aims to increase waste prevention at source,
recover and deliver extra recycling (which will complement Reclaim
West Sussex). This will involve the provision of new facilities as
necessary.
View the Revolutionary Waste
Plant video, this presentation lasts approximately 5
minutes.
The journey from rubbish to resource is an important venture
that the partnership embarked upon in 2004. The first thing the
County Council did was to enlist the help of three groups of
community stakeholders from a wide cross section of community
(parish councils, local businesses, youth groups, environmental,
voluntary and other community groups). Several meetings have been
held in order to assist County Council officers and Members in
identifying the issues and concerns residents have about rubbish.
This public engagement helps to inform the development of the way
forward - The Materials Resource Management Strategy.
Supporting documents
-
Rubbish to Resource 1 (PDF, 12 Pages, 1MB)
-
Rubbish to Resource 2 (PDF, 12 Pages, 5MB)
-
Rubbish to Resource 3 (PDF, 12 Pages, 5MB)
-
Rubbish to Resource 4 (PDF, 6 Pages, 760KB)
-
Rubbish to Resource Timeline (PDF, 1 Page, 607KB)
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MRM Background
By working as a partnership, West
Sussex local authorities will reduce landfill by being leaders in
waste prevention and recycling and by using the remaining rubbish
as a resource.
We must stop using landfill to dispose of
rubbish.
The County Council currently uses
landfill to dispose of your rubbish. However, the Landfill
Directive restricts the quantity of biodegradable waste (rubbish
that rots down) that can be landfilled, and with costs expected to
rise significantly, this method will become less viable as a
disposal option. Indeed, the Landfill Directive will place fines on
those disposal authorities not meeting targets set by the
Government. Additionally, members of the public are telling us that
they want to reduce the amount of disposed resource as far as
possible, without excessive costs, and hence we will reflect this
in the procurement of our contract.
Recycling and recovery of resource
The County Council proposes to use
rubbish as a resource, whilst further increasing recycling as much
as possible, and only land filling anything left over once no
further recovery is possible. Additionally, measures need to be
taken to help the public to prevent the amount of rubbish they
produce. This approach of preventing, reusing and recycling, whilst
remaining mindful of best value and affordability, is the
fundamental approach of the MRMC.
Community
engagement
The County Council has engaged with
the community to determine which issues concerning waste disposal,
and the technologies available, are considered significant. To this
end a series of meetings have been held with Community Involvement
Groups (CIGs) whose members have been drawn from local interest or
action groups, or those who have shown interest in waste matters
previously.
These issues were further investigated
and assessed during the development of the 30 year strategy
entitled the Materials Resource Management
Strategy (2005-2035) which forms the backbone of the strategic
direction that WSCC and its partner local authorities will
undertake until 2035.
Supporting
document
When is all this due to happen?
The MRM Contract has been let to Biffa
Waste Services. As part of this contract, they will build and
operate a Mechanical Biological Treatment Facility at the
Brookhurst Wood site, in North Horsham. This facility already has
planning permission (it was approved at the Planning Committee
meeting on 1st December 2009) and will require an operating permit
from the Environment Agency. Subject to obtaining this permit, the
facility will be operational in 2013.
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Current position
West Sussex currently recycles over a third of our municipal
waste. The rest goes into a hole in the ground (landfill). The
County Council faces huge fines if we continue to do this. The
Materials Resource Management Contract (MRMC) is designed to
extract as much recyclable materials and resource from waste as
possible, and only dispose of any residual waste once no further
recovery is possible. Additionally, further measures will be taken
to help members of the public minimise the amount of waste they
produce.
What are we going to do with your waste? Watch the presentation now.
Please be aware, this presentation lasts just over 10 minutes and
may take some time to load depending on your internet
connection.
Key procurement milestones
Procurement for the MRMC began in 2004 and on 22 September 2008,
West Sussex County Council announced that Biffa was the preferred
bidder for the contract. At this stage, the preferred supplier,
site and technology became fixed.
Final negotiations continued and the Contract was signed in July
2010.
Supporting document
Next steps
The County Council will work with Biffa to develop an ongoing
public communications and engagement programme.
Biffa have already received planning permission for this
facility (granted on 1st December 2009). If Biffa is successful in
meeting all planning policies and guidelines and regulatory
requirements of the Local Planning Authority and Environment
Agency, then the facility will be operational in 2013.
View the Revolutionary Waste
Plant video, this presentation lasts approximately 5
minutes.
Biffa's proposals are initially to produce fuels that will be
marketed offsite, as well as for use within the complex and
adjacent industry.
If long term offsite markets cannot be secured, the material may
need to be initially landfilled while an energy recovery plant
is constructed, probably at the site. It is likely that this would
involve the use of advanced thermal recovery such as gasification
rather than traditional mass burn incineration.
By 2014, the total system will be in place meeting the waste
management strategy principles in full. Government and
European targets will have been met, if not beaten. It means:
- 80,000 tonnes of waste will be prevented from entering bins
through home composting and other waste prevention
initiatives;
- more than half our waste will be recycled; and
- more than half of the remaining non recyclable waste will be
used to create energy and recover resources.
Not for profit company
Part of the MRMC development included the delivery of 80,000
tonnes waste diversion (waste prevention) per year by 2015.
Currently, we are achieving approximately 33,000 tonnes per year.
There is a required step change needed in resident's participation
and to recycle more in order to meet this target. It has been
decided that the best mechanism to deliver this step change is via
a Community Interest Company called 'Better Tomorrows'. The company
will pull together the County Council, the district and borough
councils, Biffa and members of the community to deliver behavioural
change initiative.
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