1. Who is involved in changing the way we manage our rubbish?
2. Where did we start?
3. So what are the new plans for dealing with our rubbish?
4. What's happened with waste recently?
5. Why are we doing this?
6. Where will the treatment facility be?
7. When will we find out exactly how and where our rubbish will be treated?
8. So, what are the options for how we treat our rubbish?
9. I have more questions about the South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership and plans for waste. Who can I contact?

1. Who is involved in changing the way we manage our rubbish?

Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland councils are working together as the South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites every year.

By working together as a partnership, it will cost significantly less than if we approached this as individual authorities. Together we can find better ways of handling rubbish that will be value for money for our residents.

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2. Where did we start?

We started with a major public consultation in summer 2007, where we asked residents and businesses what they'd like to see happening with waste in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland. 

You told us that you recognise that we need to change our approach to waste, and that you welcome new ideas. You also told us that you want us to be more ambitious with our aims. 

We then developed a Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy| which sets out the vision for a more sustainable future for our waste services over the next 20 years.  

The plan prioritises reducing, reusing and recycling our rubbish. It looks at what we need to do to boost our recycling rates and how we can minimise the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. The strategy also sets out ambitious targets for improving recycling.

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3. So what are the new plans for dealing with our rubbish?

Our priorities are to almost double our recycling rate to 50% by 2020. We'll do this by improving recycling facilities and services, like the kerbside recycling service and the household recycling centres and raising awareness of how residents can reduce, reuse and recycle. We are introducing a brand new kerbside recycling system between May and November this year (2010). The current black boxes will be replaced by a blue wheeled bin that has an inner box. This will let residents recycle paper, glass, cans, cardboard and plastic bottles. This will mean residents can recycle much more and recycle extra materials too.

When we've reduced, reused and recycled as much of our rubbish as we can, there'll still be some rubbish left. It's this rubbish that we'll need to treat so that we can extract valuable resources from it. Fuel, compost, building materials, electricity and heat can all be created by treating rubbish, for example.

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4. What's happened with waste recently?

We applied for Government funding for a waste treatment facility:

In late 2007 we submitted an Outline Business Case| (OBC) to Defra to apply for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding to go towards the development of a waste treatment facility for non-recycled rubbish.

The facility will mean the three authorities can treat around 200,000 tonnes of rubbish, which would normally go to landfill, to create something useful. Fuel, compost, building materials, electricity and heat can all be created by treating rubbish.

The funding we applied for was awarded:

In July 2008 Defra granted the partnership £73.5m of PFI funding to go towards the development of a treatment facility.

We have started a tendering process to find a company that can provide a waste treatment facility:

In August 2008 waste management companies were invited to express their interest in bidding for the waste treatment contract.

In January 2009 eight leading waste management companies were shortlisted to propose potential ways of treating our rubbish and where we could treat it. The companies shortlisted to prepare bids for the 25-year contract were Graphite Resources; MVV Umwelt GmbH; Shanks; SITA UK; United Utilities Networks; Urbaser S.A.; Veolia; and VT Environmental.

We have further reduced the bidders for the treatment contract to three

In June 2009 the eight original contenders for the Partnership’s waste treatment contract were further reduced to three.

MVV Umwelt, SITA UK, and United Utilities made the shortlist. The companies were then asked to provide more details about their proposals for further consideration.

All initial bids, which proposed how and where the rubbish could be treated and what resources could be recovered from it, were carefully evaluated. The three shortlisted companies submitted bids that scored best against strict criteria including sustainability, performance, deliverability and environmental considerations.

There are now two companies left bidding to develop the treatment facility:

The Partnership cut its shortlist of companies in the running for its waste treatment contract down to two final bidders in December 2009.

SITA UK and United Utilities are now the sole companies in the running for the 25-year contract which will involve developing a facility to treat around 170,000 tonnes of household waste per year.

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5. Why are we doing this?

We can no longer only send our rubbish to landfill. It's that simple.

We have to stop burying waste in landfills because they produce methane which is the greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Not only is landfill damaging to the environment, it is also expensive and it is a waste of a valuable resource because our rubbish can actually be treated in order to make it useful fuel, compost, building materials, electricity and heat can all be created by treating rubbish, for example.

We have about 340,000 tonnes of household rubbish to dispose of across the partnership area.

Waste is everyone's problem. We need to continue to encourage everyone to reduce, reuse and recycle. However, even if we hit our recycling targets of 50% recycling by 2020, that still leaves around 170,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste left to deal with.

We've made huge strides in waste management over the last six years, but we need to do more:

• In 2002-3 we recycled less than five per cent of household waste, now it's 28.5%; In 2002-3 we had no kerbside recycling, now 250,000 households have it, nearly 100% of the area and we're expanding recycling to collect even more;
• We currently recycle or compost around 28.5% of all household waste;
• Our targets are to increase this to 30% by 2010, 45% by 2015 and 50% by 2020.

We are now working on new ways of managing our waste so that we can reduce the amount sent to landfill and meet our recycling targets.

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6. Where will the treatment facility be?

No decision has been made about where it will be yet because the types of treatment and the locations a facility could be located are still being considered and evaluated.

A vacant industrial site that may be suitable for a waste treatment facility has been earmarked on Abbotsford Road in Felling, Gateshead, and has been made available to the companies bidding for the contract. However, this site may not be used because bidders could propose to use their own site or use an existing treatment facility that is already built.

See also: FAQs about Abbotsford Road site|

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7. When will we find out exactly how and where our rubbish will be treated?

The final two shortlisted bidders - SITA UK and United Utilities - are proposing solutions which include pre-sorting of rubbish for recycling and preparation for treatment. It’s proposed that the waste would then be treated either by gasification or energy from waste (EfW).

Both of these modern processes ensure that rubbish can be turned into a useful resource. Gasification and EfW both generate electricity which can be sold to the National Grid and could possibly provide steam to heat buildings, like hospitals or leisure centres.

Energy from waste is a process that burns rubbish. Gasification involves heating rubbish so that it doesn’t fully burn – this creates a gas which can be extracted and used as a fuel.

The preferred company, its solution and its proposed location will be announced in early summer this year (2010).

If the preferred bidder proposes to use the Felling site a full public consultation will be carried out as part of any planning application.

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8. So, what are the options for how we treat our rubbish?

The shortlisted bidders are proposing solutions which include the pre-sorting of rubbish for recycling and preparation for treatment. It’s proposed that the waste would be treated either by gasification or energy from waste (EfW).

Both of these modern processes ensure that rubbish can be turned into a useful resource. Gasification and EfW both generate electricity which can be sold to the National Grid and could possibly provide steam to heat homes and public buildings, like hospitals or leisure centres. Both treatments are strictly monitored and regulated and are often sited in the middle of cities, like Vienna and Osaka, for example.

Energy from waste is a process that burns rubbish. Gasification involves heating rubbish so that it doesn’t fully burn – this creates a gas which can be extracted and used as a fuel.

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9. I have more questions about the South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership and plans for waste. Who can I contact?

You can email any questions to recycling@gateshead.gov.uk| or call 0191 433 7000.

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