21 May 2008
The Transport and Technical Services (TTS) Minister has lodged a Report and Proposition asking the States to approve proposals for a smaller capacity Waste Plant than was originally envisaged in the Solid Waste Strategy of 2005. To support this development, the Minister, Deputy Guy de Faye has, additionally, increased the Island’s recycling target to 36%. In the Report and Proposition, scheduled for debate on July 1, 2008, TTS will also be seeking approval from the States to appoint their preferred bidder for the project, which is for a conventional Energy from Waste Incinerator costing £93.35m.
Having undertaken a thorough review process, which originally looked at 59 available alternative and conventional waste treatment technologies, TTS issued tender documents to four companies, one of which was proposing an alternative technology. Following a rigorous assessment of the tenders received, TTS are recommending a two-stream, conventional Energy from Waste Plant with modern flue gas treatment and a highly efficient steam turbine. This technology is fully proven and reliable, will exceed the rigorous European air quality standards and is expected to generate up to 7% of the Island’s electricity needs. The cost of the overall project including enabling works, decommissioning of Bellozanne and project management costs is £106.31 million and the Minister for Treasury and Resources will be asking the States to approve this expenditure.
TTS has been able to propose a smaller capacity plant as projections confirmed by the Statistics Unit only recently in April 2008 show that the number of households is expected to rise to 46,200 in 2035 and not 52,100 as estimated three years ago in the Solid Waste Strategy. This means the Department is now able to recommend a plant with a 105,000 tonne capacity, as opposed to the originally proposed 126,000 tonne plant.
Recycling has also increased from 20% to 30% since 2005. Provided resources are made available, the Department thinks the 32% target set for 2009 can now be exceeded and believe a new target of 36% by 2018 is achievable. However, waste has been increasing as predicted, having gone up by 9% since 2004 despite the significant waste minimisation and recycling efforts.
TTS has also reviewed the findings of the recently published Environment Scrutiny Panel Report and undertaken analysis of the costs of their preferred waste treatment technology types against the proposed Energy from Waste Plant. The Department’s report shows that the proposed plant recommended to the States, offers the best value to the Island.
“This is the cheapest and most reliable waste disposal solution currently available to Jersey,” said Deputy Guy de Faye, Minister for Transport and Technical Services. “Research, analysis and consultations on all aspects of waste have been carried out over the last seven years and regrettably some opportunities were missed. The Island cannot afford to miss this one.”
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