North East councils collaborate on energy and waste

Councils across the North East are joining forces to better dispose of rubbish from 1.5 million residents through a potentially £2.1 billion, 40-year project.

Five Tees Valley borough authorities – Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton - as well as Durham County Council and Newcastle City Council want to build a new ‘Energy Recovery Facility’ in the region. It is thought that it would see 450,000 tonnes of waste a year being used to generate electricity, and potentially heating nearby homes and businesses.

The proposed Tees Valley ERF, on a on a 25 acre brown-field site in Redcar and Cleveland currently owned by the South Tees Development Corporation, could collectively generate around 200,000 tonnes of waste by 2025, a figure only likely to increase as a result of housing and population growth. A further 200,000 tonnes could come from the two larger council areas to the north, with any spare capacity offered for commercial waste disposal, which would generate income.

A spokesperson for the project said: “While we would obviously urge everyone to recycle as much as possible, we appreciate that not all rubbish can be repurposed. We know that the volume of non-recyclable material we have to deal with is only likely to increase as our population and household numbers grow.  

“The government is also expected to widen the definition of municipal waste to include similar commercial and industrial leftovers. By joining forces the seven councils can create a new facility using the latest technology, reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, which is better for the environment. The commercial opportunity this proposed plant also presents could mean that we can generate significant income, thereby offsetting costs for the taxpayer.”

With the project representing a capital investment of up to £300 million, and the total value of the contract being £2.1 billion over an initial contract of 29 years, and a possible 11 year extension, the councils have begun a Europe wide search for a contractor to build and run the new facility. They hope to have this in place by December 2021.