A consortium led by SITA UK has been selected as preferred bidder for a resource recovery contract worth over £900 million over 25 years with the West London Waste Authority.

The other consortium members are Lloyds Banking Group and ITOCHU Corporation.

The contract is to manage up to 300,000 tonnes of residual household waste each year from the West London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames. The waste collected from over 1.4 million residents will be managed in a new energy-from-waste facility in Severnside, South Gloucestershire and transported by rail from West London. Compared to the current waste treatment this will save over 83,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year, which is more than two million tonnes over the duration of the contract.

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SITA UK will take over the operation of two rail-linked waste transfer stations in West London. The new rail-linked energy-from-waste facility, which will be called the Severnside Energy Recovery Centre (SERC), already has planning permission. This facility will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 50,000 homes and could also supply hot water to local businesses, further improving its environmental performance.

The total capital investment in the new facility is over £240 million. A total of 53 permanent jobs will be created at SERC with around 200 jobs being created during its construction.

David Palmer-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of SITA UK, said: "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."

(CD)