P E M B R O K E S H I R E COUNTY COUNCIL has awarded its Residual Waste Contract to a company in Sweden. At Tuesday’s (Jan 13) Environment
Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Richard Brown, Head of Environment and Civil Contingencies, revealed that Potters Waste Management had been awarded the contract.
Richard Brown said: “We now have a residual waste treatment framework, seven suppliers, two UK and five export solutions. “We were pretty sure it was going to be an export solution to the point that, up front, we’ve invested money in applying for planning consent for Pembroke Port and also applying for a permit to operate.
“We’ve now awarded a contract to a company called Potters which is an export based solution to Sweden. “The port of Pembroke will be processing, Lampeter will also have a processing plant, essentially all we will be doing is pulling the metal out, bringing it down to the port for bailing and rafting and then it will be sent off to Sweden as a refuse for fuel. “It is environmentally friendly to send it to Sweden than it is to send it to the waste plant that is being commissioned in Cardiff.
“Economically, it’s a good solution too. We’ve got 11 jobs which are being created just in Wales. “We’re going to be saving about £17 per tonne on what we’re currently spending. “The contract starts in March and shipping should begin in May”. Cllr Brian Hall said: “This will be a massive benefit to the Dock because it will ease the congestion and create jobs. It’s a massive asset and it’s not a bad saving”.
Cllr David Howlett highlighted that the partnership involved Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion and asked whether or not other authorities had been given the opportunity to come on board. Richard Brown responded saying: “The contracts are available to all local authorities. Different authorities are at different stages in their existing contracts.
“We had an immediate requirement and the reason we joined with Ceredigion was because they were looking for something at the same time. “Swansea, Powys and another North Wales authority are interested in coming on board. This could be a way of offsetting our future costs if they do come on board”. Acting Head of Paid Service Ian Westley added: “We went to the Welsh Government at the start of this process because, to an extent, it flies in the face of their preferred approach.
“Each authority made its own decision to secure a short term residual waste solution and some authorities had access to their own provision. “The Welsh Government were good enough to accept this. For Pembrokeshire, this is a win-win situation”.
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