The South West Devon Waste Partnership has decided that MVV Umwelt will be its preferred bidder to provide a solution to treat the region’s residual waste.
The final two bids were evaluated against pre-agreed criteria including value for money, technology, environmental benefits and impacts, ability to deliver the project and financial standing. MVV’s solution is an energy from waste facility at North Yard in Devonport.
The partnership met in late December to consider the tender evaluation results and recommend the preferred bidder’s solution to Defra, who are supplying £95m worth of PFI (Private Finance Initiative) credits towards the cost of the project. This has now been considered by Defra, who has confirmed that the project meets its criteria and that the partnership can appoint MVV as the preferred bidder.
MVV will continue to prepare their planning application for the proposal, which is within the North Yard of the Dockyard. This will involve public consultation and working with planners at Plymouth City Council as well as the Environment Agency for the permit to operate the facility.
Councillor Dave Butt, chair of the South West Devon Waste Partnership said: “After careful consideration, it was clear that MVV represented the best possible option for the partnership providing with good value for money with significant environmental benefits. They are an experienced company with an excellent environmental and safety track record gained operating many other facilities across the continent, so we are confident they will provide a highly efficient sustainable long term solution to meet our ongoing needs.
“Successfully using the energy from the process is key to the proposal – it provides significant economic benefits for the Partnership and the Naval Base, and important environmental advantages too by avoiding waste going to landfill and reducing the Dockyard’s dependency on fossil fuels. The proposed plant will be designed to fit in with its industrial surroundings and to minimise the impact on local residents.
“It will still need planning permission before any development can go ahead, and we are keen to keep the community informed. We will be running roadshows with MVV in early February, but if anyone has any questions, we would advise them to visit our South West Devon Waste Partnership website or MVV’s site: www.mvvuk.co.uk.“
Plymouth City Councillor Mike Leaves said: “This is an important step forward for the partnership and shows how working together can achieve a cost effective solution which will also have important environmental benefits too. Waste is everyone’s problem and it is vital we find an alternative to landfill, so we are very pleased with this potential solution. Ensuring the views of our communities are taken on board will remain a priority so we encourage people to come along to our roadshows to find out more.”
The decision to appoint MVV as preferred bidder required Defra’s confirmation because it is granting PFI credits towards the cost of the project. The South West Devon Waste Partnership is one of 11 projects to continue in the wake of the spending cuts, which removed funding from seven other initiatives.
More information on the work of the partnership can be found at the South West Devon Waste Partnership website
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