25-year PFI contract could be a waste of money
New reports state that local companies seeking to bid for new long-term waste contracts could save Northern Ireland’s ratepayers £20m a year.
25-year contracts are being set up to ensure Northern Ireland’s councils hit EU targets on recycling and avoid huge fines.
However, 12 waste companies, which are not involved in the tender process, have claimed they could do the same work for a fraction of the cost, saving councils over £500m throughout the duration of the contract.
A Stormont committee is set to question those involved in the tender process to establish value for money within the new deals, which are expected to be signed later in the year.
Northern Ireland’s 26 councils dump 660,000 tonnes of waste a year. But stringent EU targets and penalties mean a new approach is needed.
Local councils have divided into three ‘purchasing groups’ to negotiate contracts with big waste players who’ll try to divert as much of that as possible from landfill.
This means councils signing up to send guaranteed tonnages to new waste treatment facilities. They’ll be paying an agreed price whether or not they fill their quotas, which independent operators claim could be more than £125 a tonne.
General Manager at Recyco Gavin Doherty, one of the companies willing to take on the waste work, and already deals with 35’000 tonnes a year of commercial waste, believes his company could do the work at a price well below £125 a tonne.
The contracts will be over a 25-year period, allowing a recoup on capital costs and profit and financed through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The successful bidders will pay for new waste facilities.
Mr Doherty said: “I’d be very confident we could do it significantly cheaper than what the PFI process is looking to bring it in at.”
Loading ...