£700m waste plant for Wakefield

WAKEFIELD Council has named defence and support services firm VT Group has its preferred bidder for a state-of-the-art waste management and recycling facility.

VT will design, build, finance and operate the facility as part of private finance initiative (PFI) worth £700m over 25 years.

Construction will start in 2009 and will use autoclave, in vessel composting, sorting systems and anaerobic digestion technologies. The facilities are expected to process more than 200,000 tonnes a year of domestic waste generated in the Wakefield area.

The project marks the first time that the £1bn turnover group, which has its headquarters in Southampton and employs 14,000 people, has built a waste management facility.

Paul Lester, VT group chief executive said: “The waste managment sector will grow considerably over the next few years as EU directives restrict the amount of waste that can be put into landfill.

“We believe that there is major potential for VT in this market using our engineering skills and Wakefield marks a significant step in this new business.”

Wakefield Council was unavailable for comment at the time.