Wrexham Council And FCC Environment Agree On Next Phase Of Waste Management Contract

Wrexham Council and FCC Environment have formally agreed a significant contract variation that will allow the Council to meet the new, more stringent statutory recycling targets that have recently been introduced by the Welsh Government.

It will also ensure that reliance on landfill disposal is reduced even further in future years, resulting in both significant environmental and financial benefits to the Council.

This new phase of the Council’s waste strategy follows on from the successful development of the Wrexham Eco Recycling Park on Bryn Lane in 2009, which is part of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) partnership between Wrexham Council and the leading recycling and resource management business, FCC Environment.  This has enabled Wrexham Council to meet the original Welsh Government recycling target of 40%.

The new project will see the development of a Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) Plant on the Bryn Lane site that will recover recyclate and produce a refuse derived fuel (RDF) from the household residual waste.  The MBT facility, which has planning permission, is anticipated to be operational in Summer 2014.

For Wrexham Council this variation will provide the benefit of saving money, reducing carbon footprint and providing a solution which will meet statutory recycling targets for the long term.

Phil Walton, Strategic Director with Wrexham Council, said: “This second phase is the culmination of over 4 years partnership working with FCC Environment in order to deliver a strategic solution to enable the Council to meet the Welsh Government’s new statutory recycling targets.

“I am particularly proud to see this second phase agreed, having led the Council Team through the complex contract negotiations for the first Phase of the Project which originally developed from our initial plans as far back as 1997”.

Paul Taylor, Chief Executive of FCC Environment, said: “The progress and success of Wrexham’s waste management project so far show the benefits of partnership working, where there is a clear focus and strategic commitment by all concerned.

“We are proud to have played our part in the achievements made so far.  It fits closely with our business aim to help our customers realise increasing material or energy value from their residual waste, and we look forward to delivering further benefits for Wrexham Council from the next phase of this project.”