Dorset firm wins £40m South West recycling contract

A Dorset-based recycling firm has secured a £40m government contract to handle 120,000 of domestic household waste in the South West.

New Earth Solutions Group said it will reduce the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill by more than 75 per cent when it takes over the contract from April 2011.

Councillor Carl Francis Pester, chairman of the Joint Waste Committee for councils in Bath, North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, said the deal would help councils by reducing the amount they pay in landfill tax.

"By working together we have been able to secure an excellent arrangement with New Earth Solutions that will greatly reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill, thus saving the councils millions of pounds," he said. "We are all still committed to improving our recycling rates and reducing even further the amount of residual waste."

The firm already operates two 50,000-ton waste processing facilities in Dorset and Kent and has recently acquired a third in Gloucestershire. It is also planning two further plants near Bristol and in Leicestershire in response to growing demand across the UK for recycling services.

The facilities use aeration, dynamic agitation and irrigation techniques to separate biodegradable waste from general municipal waste. The biodegradable waste is then converted into compost, while other recyclates are also separated out and recycled.

The firm has also established a new arm to develop schemes to recover renewable energy from waste using emerging advanced thermal treatment technologies.

Chris Cox, managing director at New Earth Solutions, said: "With our independent sources of funding we are on track to reach 20 plants over the next five years. We are currently at a very exciting stage of development and this new contract with West of England Partnership will help accelerate our growth."

Under the EU Landfill Directive councils must reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 75 per cent of that produced in 1995 by 2010 and to 50 per cent by 2013.