Covanta signs waste treatment contract with the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

January, 2012 - The future treatment of residual waste in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) took an important step forward today when the authority announced its long-term contract with its preferred bidder, Covanta Energy, to treat all residual and organic waste generated in the Royal Borough. 

The contract with Covanta will turn approximately 30,000 tonnes of non-recyclable municipal waste, which is currently landfilled each year, into a fuel to generate largely renewable electricity.  All of the organic waste collected in the Royal Borough will also be treated by Covanta’s organic waste partner, Agrivert Ltd. The 15,000 tonnes of food and garden waste produced each year will be treated at Agrivert’s anaerobic digester and composting facilities in Oxfordshire to generate valuable energy and fertiliser.

Winning this contract is part of Covanta’s long-term aim to develop a number of strategic, state-of-the-art Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facilities across the UK.  The non-recyclable waste generated in the Royal Borough will be treated at Covanta’s Rookery South Resource Recovery Facility, near Stewartby in Bedfordshire. 

Covanta Energy’s UK Managing Director, Malcolm Chilton, said: “I am delighted that Covanta and our organic waste partners, Agrivert, have today signed a long-term waste treatment contract with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
“Covanta is committed to developing the most technologically advanced, efficient and productive EfW facilities in the UK.  This is another step forward to achieving our long-term goals; providing local authorities and private sector waste producers with modern, sustainable and long-term waste treatment solutions. 

“By working with Agrivert Ltd our waste management solution will help drive up recycling rates, provide value for money for our clients and will generate significant levels of sustainable energy, by diverting waste away from landfill and using it as a fuel to generate renewable electricity.”

Cllr Phill Bicknell, the Royal Borough’s cabinet member for highways, transport and environment said: “Our negotiations with Covanta have secured a really good deal for our residents, with immediate savings from April this year through using the Agrivert organic waste facilities. Then, in four years’ time, we can look forward to zero landfill tax when waste that can’t be recycled is used to generate energy. This is an all-round winner.”

A contract commencement date is set for December 2012. 

For more information please contact Adrienne Robins at Quantum Public Relations on 01233 500 200 or at Adrienne@quantumpr.co.uk

For more information from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, please contact the Authority’s communication team on 01628 796410