Where now for Cheshire’s waste as council leaders try to change Government’s mind over funding withdrawal for massive £850 waste scheme

Nov 4 2010 by Gary Porter, Chester Chronicle

The Government’s decision to withdraw funding from an £850m masterplan to dispose of Cheshire’s household waste for the next quarter of a century has left the county with a major headache. How do we get rid of 180,000 tonnes of waste every year? GARY PORTER takes a look at where both Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East councils go from here

A COUNCIL delegation travelled to London this week in a bid to change the Government’s mind about providing £100m toward a contract to get rid of the county’s rubbish until 2035.

However, it was a trip made with faint hope rather than expectation.

Both Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC) and Cheshire East councils, which were on the verge of finalising a deal with their preferred bidder – waste management giant Viridor – for the treatment of 180,000 tonnes of waste, know they are almost certainly heading back to the drawing board.

So what now?

With fast-diminishing landfill space and increasing costs, an average of £800,000 each year, the two councils cannot afford to spend five more years finding another long-term solution.

Talks with Viridor will take place to see if there is a way round the shortfall and an appeal against the Government decision has not been ruled out.

But when looking at the options available, it appears that the most viable immediate solution is the one that is most controversial – incineration.

So are we heading down this route?

It looks likely that Peel Energy’s Ince Marshes incinerator will burn 450,000 tonnes of Merseyside’s waste per year when it becomes operative in 2012.

To add insult to injury, the six Merseyside authorities will benefit from £90m of Government funding toward the £1.2bn contract.

CWaC opposed the incinerator and said Merseyside authorities should dispose of their waste in their own areas.

Given the incinerator has a capacity of 600,000 tonnes every year and it is a solution right on the doorstep, will the authority’s stance change?

If the two councils decided to pursue different options, there would be more than enough capacity to meet CWaC’s need.

Cheshire East is considering incinerator proposals in Middlewich and Northwich, with a combined burning capacity of nearly one million tonnes.

There is also a large incinerator being built in Runcorn for Ineos Chlor to burn Manchester’s waste.

If the two councils, whether they remain united in their bid for a long-term solution or not, are having to start with a blank piece of paper, it is going to be a challenge for them if they remain hostile to the option of incineration.

Anti-incinerator campaigners have warned that Cheshire would become the ‘dumping ground’ of the North West if more incinerators were given the go-ahead.

Just imagine if the county was lumbered with such a tag, without having solved the problem of where to get rid of its own rubbish.