Monday 16 January 2017
States Members are being asked to extend the Policy & Resources Committee's delegated authority to approve funding for new waste management facilities at Longue Hougue.
The States' Trading Supervisory Board (STSB) and the Committee for the Environment & Infrastructure (CfE&I) have submitted a joint policy letter, which is expected to be debated in February. If the proposals are accepted, P&RC will be able to approve funding above the £29.5 million which the States has already agreed.
That was the estimated capital cost in February 2014, before the States invited expressions of interest in building and operating the planned new facilities. Following tendering, and having carried out more design work, the total is now £32.2 million, including contingencies.
The new facilities are an important element of the island's Waste Strategy, which aims to reduce the amount of waste produced by local homes and businesses, and to increase reuse and recycling. The States has already agreed that the residual material that is left after efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle will be exported for energy recovery.
The overall cost of the strategy, including all capital funding and operational costs, has risen from an estimate of up to £13 million a year in 2014 to around £15 million a year. This will be met from waste charges.
Once the strategy is fully implemented, it is estimated the average household waste bill will be equivalent to around £7 per week. That includes all collection, transport, on-island and off-island processing, and recycling costs. The amount individual households pay will be linked to the amount of waste they produce.
If the States agree to additional capital investment, the proposals will still be subject to P&RC approving detailed business cases before funding is released. However progress is considered urgent, as the landfill site at Mont Cuet is expected to reach capacity in 2018.
In its letter of comment, P&RC supports the proposals:-
"The Committee recognises the urgency of the propositions in order that new waste management facilities can be put in place before Mont Cuet is, to all intents and purposes, effectively full.
"Even if contracts are signed imminently, the timetable remains extremely tight, with no room for slippage. Ideally, there would be no such time pressure but it is necessary to be pragmatic and deal with the reality of the situation that the island is in.
"It is important, however, to bear in mind that approval of the propositions simply enables the STSB to progress the procurement process."
The Longue Hougue facilities include a transfer station that will receive around 25,000 tonnes a year of commercial and household waste that currently goes to Mont Cuet. Instead of being disposed of in landfill, in future this material will be processed into what is known as Refuse Derived Fuel, which can then be exported for energy recovery.
A new, purpose-built Household Waste Recycling Facility (HWRC) will also replace the current temporary site at Longue Hougue.
The States is also being asked to extend the timetable for increased recycling targets of up to 70%, and to note a change in the way food waste would be treated.
The target, which was agreed in 2012, was originally set for to be achieved by 2025, with interim targets of 50% by the end of 2013, and 60% by 2018. At the time, it was hoped the new facilities and services would be operational in 2015.
Exports are not now expected to begin until the end of 2018. The States is therefore being asked to extend the 60% target until 2022, and 70% by 2030.
Separate processing of food waste is an important element in achieving the higher recycling targets. In 2014 the proposals for Longue Hougue included a facility that would process this material, using a process known as In-Vessel Composting.
It is still proposed to collect food waste separately from other waste. However instead of having a dedicated on-island facility, it will undergo initial processing in the transfer station before being exported to a UK treatment facility, known as an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant.
That has a number of benefits compared to the local plant originally proposed, including reduced operational risk and the ability to recover energy from the material. Gas that is produced in the process is used to generate electricity.
Market testing has already been carried out. This confirmed growing demand as new AD facilities are being commissioned in the UK, as separate food waste collection becomes more widespread.
STSB needs States Members to amend the previous resolution to build an on-island facility before it can invite formal expressions of interest to receive food waste from Guernsey.
Once the new facilities are operational, Mont Cuet will still be used to process around 11,000 tonnes of green waste a year. It will also continue to be used for disposing of around 2,000 tonnes a year of specially controlled or hazardous waste, such as asbestos and gully sludge, which are not suitable for RDF.
Based on current tipping rates, the site is expected to reach the optimum height for continued green waste processing by the third quarter of 2018. That roughly coincides with the commissioning of the new export facilities, provided there are no further delays to the programme.
Waste could be stockpiled at Mont Cuet for up to six months if the new facilities are not available when the site reaches its optimum level.
