Sita UK Lands Large Contract for West London

A consortium led by SITA UK, a subsidiary of Suez Environnement, has been selected by the West London Waste Authority as the preferred bidder for a resource recovery contract worth more than £900 million (US$1.4 billion) over 25 years. The other consortium members are Lloyds Banking Group and Itochu Corp.

The contract calls for the consortium to manage up to 300,000 metric tons of residual household waste each year from the West London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames. The material will be managed in a new energy-from-waste (EfW) facility in Severnside, South Gloucestershire and transported by rail from West London.

Sita UK will take over the operation of two rail-linked waste transfer stations in West London. The rail-linked EfW facility, which will be called the Severnside Energy Recovery Centre (SERC), has received planning permission.

Sita UK estimates that the total capital investment in the new facility will be more than £240 million (US$373 million).

In a release, David Palmer-Jones, Sita UK’s CEO, says, “We are delighted to be named preferred bidder for this major waste management contract in West London. It is great news for the six boroughs and their residents, knowing that their waste materials will be used to produce energy and avoid landfill.

“We look forward to working with West London Waste Authority and developing the key infrastructure in this transformative partnership. Contracts like this make the circular economy a reality and show that environmentally sustainable solutions offer nothing other than business sense, extracting energy and employment from materials which too often are treated as waste," Palmer-Jones adds.

Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO of Suez Environnement, says, “Following the Merseyside PFI, this new resource recovery contract illustrates our strong positioning and know-how on energy-from-waste activities. We have a solid track record of delivering new resource management facilities that local authorities need to manage their residual waste. With planning permission already in place for our energy-from-waste facility we look forward to signing the contract and getting on with delivering the infrastructure that is needed to put West London’s waste to good use.”