A COUNCIL owned waste company having to “export” its rubbish because it has run out of tip space made a loss of almost £500,000 last year.

AD Waste was set up 17 years ago as an “arm’s length” limited company, wholly owned by Flintshire County Council, to collect, recycle and dump the domestic rubbish in the county.

But there were warnings recently that the company was heading for insolvency with possible losses of £500,000 in 2008.

Draft accounts now show the actual loss was £496,000.

Flintshire leader Cllr Arnold Woolley said: “We made a decision some time ago to take this ‘in house’ and that is still the intention.

“I don’t think the accounts will make much difference,” he added.

Cllr Woolley had not seen the final accounts and could not comment on them.

However, he did say: “Landfill sites have definite life-spans and probably five or six years ago people should have put their heads together to plot what to do next.”

When Flintshire’s own landfill sites were full and AD Waste failed to secure new dumping grounds, it had to export rubbish to neighbouring Wrexham – which it is still doing – which came at a heavy cost.

It is hoped to absorb the company into a council-run operation before the end of the year.

The 47 AD Waste staff having their pay and conditions protected when transferred back to the council.

While Flintshire has possibilities for new tips at Alltami – one private company already has a planning permission – longer term, Cllr Woolley is hoping more sustainable solutions can be found.

This might be through a North Wales strategy involving several authorities, for example the food waste anaerobic digester at St Asaph, which it will share with Denbighshire.

Cllr Woolley said the council would reluctantly have to absorb the losses but independent auditors had pointed out the existing arrangement was not viable.

Independent councillor Klaus Armstrong-Braun said that the half a million loss was “horrifying”.

He added that political parties should have been scrutinising the company and its future a lot more closely.

carl.butler