COUNCIL MEETING, 28 NOVEMBER 2002

REPORT OF THE

EXECUTIVE MEMBER

ENVIRONMENT

PART II

ALTON MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY

1. In order to take advantage of an investment opportunity to deliver future requirements for processing capacity at the most economically advantageous time and price, Hampshire Waste Services Limited (HWS) will provide an additional 43,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be constructed at a site near Froyle in Alton.

2. The County Council has statutory recycling performance standards of 33% and 40% for 2003/04 and 2005/06 respectively, and similar targets have been adopted by the Project Integra Board. In order to deliver these performance targets, up to 190,000 tpa of MRF capacity will be required, which is in the region of an additional 76,000 tpa beyond that currently ordered.

3. A lot of work has been done to raise public awareness of the need for, and benefits of recycling. It is also anticipated that demand for the MRF capacity will significantly increase as local authorities strive to achieve their statutory performance standards and therefore any spare capacity at the Alton site could be marketed at commercial rates. In addition, the avoidance of costly landfill tax will generate a net revenue saving of some £155,000 per annum.

4. Inevitably, there are some financial risks involved in building a larger facility at this time, however these risks can be mitigated but more importantly the risks of doing nothing are far greater. Other legislative changes, such as the impending landfill directive, mean that additional waste processing facilities will be required. Clearly, there is a need to go beyond the current level of contracted capacity in order to meet Project Integra recycling aspirations and statutory Best Value performance standards and the site at Alton will provide an excellent opportunity to achieve this.

COUNCILLOR KEITH B. ESTLIN
Executive Member

for Environment

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