Hertfordshire, England, and Veolia Terminate Waste Incinerator Contract

The Hertfordshire, England, County Council and Veolia have ended their long-term residual waste contract, following the decision by the Secretary of State to reject plans for an incinerator in Hoddesdon.

According to the Welwyn Hatfield Times, Veolia had expected to build a waste-to-energy facility to deal with 248,000 tonnes of non-recyclable rubbish generated by the county each year by 2024. Last week, however, the Hertfordshire County Council announced that it had agreed with Veolia ES Hertfordshire Ltd to terminate the contract.

The plant at Hoddesdon was blocked last month following concerns about traffic volumes and impact on the surrounding landscape, MRW reports. The decision to terminate the contract will cost the council £1.37 million, which is to be paid to Veolia toward the costs that it has incurred.

MRW has more:

Hertfordshire County Council and Veolia have ended their long-term residual waste contract after the Government blocked plans to build a energy-from-waste (EfW) facility.

The plant at Hoddesdon was blocked last month – despite a planning inspector’s recommendation that it should proceed – following concerns about traffic volumes and impact on the surrounding landscape, a move the council warned left it “running out of options” for residual waste.

Ending the contract leaves Hertfordshire faced with paying Veolia a break-up fee of £1.37m. But the council said it faced a far higher cost of £100m by foregoing the estimated saving that the plant would have brought over 30 years.

Read the full article here.