Looking to the future the county council remains committed to being open and honest with local residents around Four Ashes. I sincerely hope this ‘blog’ will play an important role in ensuring you have access to useful information.

If you have any questions about these proposals then please email comment@staffsprojectw2r.info. I will try to respond to the most frequently asked questions in future entries.

April 2009 - Tenderers submit detailed proposals

Last October, the County Council selected four potential contractors to develop detailed proposals about how they would build and operate the Energy from Waste facility.

The four contractors are Covanta Energy Limited; MVV Umwelt GmbH; Shanks Group PLC and Wheelabrator Technologies Inc; and Veolia ES Aurora Limited.

The four contractors had submitted initial applications alongside 9 other companies. After careful consideration these four companies were invited to develop their proposals in much more detail. The four contractors were chosen for their technological expertise and experience, proven corporate responsibility and financial strength.

Over the last few months these companies have been working towards refining their proposals, looking at ways to reduce the overall size of the building whilst keeping with the concept of the original design.

Discussions have been taking place between the council and each contractor to make sure Project W2R delivers a facility that will deal with Staffordshire’s remaining residual waste after recycling has been maximised.

Detailed submissions have now been received from each contractor and the County Council will carefully consider these submissions over the next few months. The selection of the final two bidders is hoped to be made before the end of June. The final contractor is expected to be chosen by summer 2010.

While the selection process continues, I feel it is important to emphasise that the council remain committed to delivering a solution to deal with Staffordshire’s residual waste which includes reducing the amount of waste we produce and increasing recycling rates.

Currently, the County Council are working with Stoke City Council to discuss further possibilities for dealing with the county’s waste. The County Planning Authority has also asked waste management operators currently involved in the county to list suggestions. The results from these discussions will form part of the Waste Development Framework that simply considers all possible scenarios that waste management operators could explore in collaboration with the council.

Project W2R team have not been involved in any discussions about the possibility of developing other Energy from Waste facilities at other sites around the county. The Waste Development Framework simply explores options waste management operators could consider to deal with our waste as effectively as possible.