Jobs and services saved at Wolverhampton's Energy from Waste plant with new deal
Wolverhampton’s Energy from Waste (EfW) plant has been saved from potential closure and the loss of 30 jobs after council bosses secured a new contract following the expiry of the previous one earlier this month.
The 25-year agreement with operators of the Crown Street plant – Wolverhampton Waste Services (WWS) – expired on February 10 this year, meaning the council had to enter into negotiations for an extension or a new contract.
Councillor Steve Evans, the local authority’s member for city environment and climate change, told a cabinet meeting: “We had been hopeful up until January, but sadly we couldn’t negotiate either an extension or a new contract. Electricity prices have risen astronomically.
“Energy from waste brings in an income, and the income that it would bring in also means it should go up significantly. So of course the negotiations led to us saying to the current operator that we need to take into account those significant increases in profit and incomes for electricity.
“We did make a final offer that they rejected. We had got a contingency plan in place for disposal of our waste, but I have to be honest, contingency plans and alternatives are not value for money. They are not good for the environment. Disposal costs and landfill are not good for the environment. And it’s not good for our budgets.
“Disposal costs have also risen astronomically, so in terms of the environment, the most efficient way is actually to use that plant and get energy from waste that brings in an income stream. I have no doubt whatsoever that there was a serious risk that we wouldn’t be able to operate the plant,” he added.
“And for this city council to move in less than two weeks and get a new contract in place with an operator called NMOL – North Midlands Operations Limited – to oversee the management, and for us to TUPE in the 30 staff whose jobs were at risk is difficult to achieve. To move that fast and secure the jobs needs noting and our sincere thanks placed on record.
“It also means 30 jobs/families have got some stability. Their jobs were at risk because we would not have been able to operate that plant. These are skilled people.
“So a contract extension that would not give this council value for money would not have been right. And after legal advice, would have potentially been illegal. There is a contract in place until June this year and that will give us time to carry out the correct procurement process that will mean we will have an operator in place that will give us value for money,” he told members.
The plant was constructed in 1998 to burn in the region of 115,000 tonnes of local domestic waster per annum of local domestic refuse, generating electricity for the local community.
