Cheshire Waste PFI contract

Frequently asked questions

Who is United Utilities?

United Utilities is the UK’s largest listed water company. United Utilities owns, operates and maintains utility assets including water, wastewater, electricity and gas. United Utilities is a UK FTSE 100 company, has a turnover of £2 bn and is the UK’s market leader in utility outsourcing. United Utilities operates a highly successful multi-utility connection business, manages metering contracts and is using its engineering and operating skills in emerging markets such as Municipal Solid Waste. United Utilities provides services to over 20 million people worldwide – across Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the Philippines.

• Further details about United Utilities

Who is Interserve?

Interserve is a services, maintenance and building group operating in the public and private sectors, both in the UK and internationally. The company offers advice, design, construction and facilities management services for society’s infrastructure and provides a range of plant and equipment in specialist fields.

• Further details about Interserve.

What is your experience in this market?

United Utilities and Interserve have recently been named as preferred bidder by Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council to take the joint waste management contract forward. The 27 year contract will see the companies investing £500 million in Derby and Derbyshire. United Utilities and Interserve have also been short-listed for the Leeds waste management contract. United Utilities has also been short-listed for the following waste contracts – Merseyside; South Tyneside; Bradford and Calderdale; Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.

What new facilities are being proposed?

United Utilities and Interserve are proposing to build in Cheshire:

• A new Waste Treatment Facility and Visitor and Education Centre
• Three new Waste Transfer Stations.

What are the benefits of the proposals?

The proposals offer a number of benefits:

• Providing an alternative to mass landfilling which is no longer ethically, environmentally or financially sustainable
• Diverting around 200,000 tonnes of waste from landfill • Offering waste management proposals to include:
• A proven recycling and treatment facility
• New Waste Transfer Stations
• Assisting in reducing Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester’s carbon footprint by diverting waste from landfill, recycling more waste, reducing waste transport movements and generating energy
• Helping the Councils avoid hefty fines if they don’t meet strict targets to reduce landfill – which could see Council Tax increase
• Meeting LATS (Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme) targets for 2020 and beyond
• Offering value for money
• Representing an investment of £850 million in Cheshire
• Helping the Councils meet its joint recycling target of 50% by 2020
• Allowing energy to be recovered from the waste left over after recycling has taken place, generating electricity
• Using a mix of proven, safe technologies for waste management
• Creating long-term employment opportunities for local people.

What’s wrong with landfilling rubbish?

It is estimated that the UK will run out of landfill space in nine years time, so it is simply unsustainable as a waste solution. In addition, landfill generates up to 40 per cent of the UK's methane - or about 3 per cent of our total greenhouse gas emissions. The methane produced by landfilling is said to be a causal factor for climate change, therefore the UK is now looking at alternative treatments for waste. The European Union Landfill Regulations 2000 set targets for UK to reduce the amount it sent to landfill, whilst the landfill tax is making it an increasingly expensive disposal option.

What is the waste treatment facility you are proposing?

A proven recycling and treatment facility is proposed. It will be designed to accept all residual household waste arising in Cheshire. The new waste treatment facility will include:

• A Waste Treatment Facility Reception Hall
• A materials recycling facility which extracts recyclables and pre-treats the waste
• An Advanced Conversion Technology (ACT) facility which converts the pre-treated waste into energy
• A Visitor and Education Centre which will give local schools and members of the public the opportunity to learn more about waste management.

Where will the facility accept waste from?

The facility will accept waste from across Cheshire.

Why do we need this facility?

All of us produce waste, both in our homes and at the businesses that we work at. The UK relies on landfill which is predicted to run out in nine years time and we need to find a green alternative. Energy recovery from waste provides a double environmental benefit - firstly, the diversion of waste from landfill and, secondly, the recovery of energy, displacing fossil fuel alternatives and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Even with ever increasing levels of recycling, there will always be a residual waste stream that needs to be treated.

Does the facility conform to the ‘waste hierarchy’?

Yes. Reducing, reusing and recycling are an important part of managing Cheshire’s waste. United Utilities and Interserve will work with both Councils to encourage people to minimise waste and increase recycling, in line with the joint Councils target to meet recycling levels of 50% by 2020. However, not all waste can be dealt with this way and new facilities are needed to reduce the amount of residual waste (left after recycling) being sent to landfill.

How will the Advanced Conversion Technology (ACT) facility work?

The Advanced Conversion Treatment (ACT) facility uses a patented gasification process to recover energy from the pre-treated waste prepared by the materials recycling facility. This proven technology turns waste to energy in an efficient and environmentally friendly process.

• The facility uses a gasification process which generates an energy-rich syngas from the prepared fuel under strictly controlled conditions
• The syngas produced is collected and used as a fuel to generate steam in high efficiency traditional boilers
• This steam is then used to generate renewable electricity which is supplied to the local grid
• The inert ash left over from the gasification process will be used as an aggregate replacement in concrete block manufacture.

Who will build and operate the facility?

The facilities will be designed, constructed and commissioned by Interserve Project Services Ltd . The facilities will be operated by United Utilities Waste Operations Ltd . The operation of the plant will not be subcontracted.

Do you need an Environmental Permit to operate the facility?

There are a number of directives and regulations that apply to any waste facility. In addition to securing planning permission, the proposed facility must gain a permit to operate from the Environment Agency. The permit (granted under the Environmental Permit Regulations) will control all operations and will only be granted if the Environment Agency is sure that the facility can be operated without significant adverse impact on people and the environment.

If I live close to the site will I be able to see the facility?

A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment will accompany the planning application, which will outline measures to protect against the visual impact of the facility. The facility will be designed to protect local people’s visual amenity. The new facility will have an attractive, modern design which is in keeping with other buildings in the area. A Landscape Master Plan will also be prepared for the site, which will take into account any additional landscaping that the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment identifies.

Will it smell?

All areas of the facility will be designed to minimise odours and any odour will be strictly controlled. Waste will be delivered by enclosed vehicles into an enclosed reception area before being processed. All processes will operate in a fully enclosed, purpose built facility. The proposed new waste treatment facility will operate under a negative pressure system to prevent odour e.g. as doors open, air is sucked in to prevent odour escaping. In addition, a substantial bio-filter is proposed to manage the flow of air around the facility.

Will it be noisy?

Before we can operate any new facilities we will need planning permission from the two Cheshire Councils and a permit from the Environment Agency. These will only be granted if the Councils and the Environment Agency can be satisfied that the proposed facility can operate without adverse impacts on people and the environment. The Environmental Permit required to operate the facility will set acceptable noise levels. All areas of the facility will be designed and built to minimise noise impacts. The operations will be enclosed within buildings designed to retain noise.

Will the facility produce emissions?

European Directives have set strict emissions limits for modern waste management facilities, to ensure local communities and the environment are protected. These limits are strictly regulated by the Environment Agency. In order to operate, the facility must have an Environmental Permit from the Environment Agency. Emissions from the ACT process are significantly lower than European Union limits. Constant monitoring of these emissions will ensure that the plant is always operating within these limits. If the levels go outside these predefined limits, the plant will automatically shut down.

How green will the facility be?

Managing waste this way will help towards combating climate change by diverting waste from landfill, recycling more waste, reducing waste transport movements and generating energy. We will be using the Environment Agency’s WRATE tool to calculate the savings. The design of the facility will be guided by the sustainable principles set out in the Governments Strategy ‘Building a better quality of life – A strategy for more sustainable construction’. A Sustainability Assessment will also be undertaken as part of the planning application process.

What can you tell me about the education centre?

A purpose built education facility will be included in the design for the waste treatment facility (WTF). Adopting a classroom style, the facility will allow interested parties to observe some of the process without entering the operational area. The education facility will be equipped with pictorial information and flow charts detailing the waste treatment process at the plant and will demonstrate where the plants activities fit into the waste hierarchy. Reduce re-use, recycling/recovery will be the overall theme of presentation material available to the educational facility users. Although primarily targeted at schools and colleges, the facility will be available to community groups and interested parties from the Unitary and Parish Councils, Businesses, and bodies such as the NHS, Police and Services.