Councils agree to scrap £147m waste treatment centre

Two Derbyshire councils have agreed to decommission and dispose of a waste treatment centre which has never been used and has cost the taxpayer just over £147m.

The Sinfin Waste Treatment Centre in Derby failed initial testing in 2017, and talks earlier this year were unable to find anyone to take on management of the project.

Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council, which jointly own the site, said a "comprehensive review" found getting rid of the incinerator would be "the best option to protect the interests of council taxpayers".

Former city council leader and Labour MP for Derby South, Baggy Shanker, told the BBC the move was the "right decision".

Shanker, who is also a ward councillor where the waste treatment site sits, said he was of the opinion when the plans were first mooted in 2006 that the plant had the "wrong technology" and was in the "wrong location".

"The residents of Sinfin and Osmaston have stood side by side with me now for 18 years fighting this plant," he said.

"I led the fight here in the council and residents have been ignored for so long.

"This was always the wrong technology on the wrong side and too many of the warnings were ignored."

The project to build a facility to treat household waste began in 2006.

This was in line with national government policy and guidance at the time directed at supporting councils to develop large-scale waste treatment projects to divert waste from landfill.

The plant had been expected to keep 190,000 tonnes of waste out of landfill each year by using heat treatment to generate gas, producing enough electricity to supply about 14,000 homes.

But the plant was mothballed in 2019 and, four years later, the councils agreed a £93.5m settlement with the administrators of the company responsible for the scheme.

Efforts to bring the facility into operation later stalled when Derbyshire County Council issued a bill to Labour-run Derby City Council in January 2024 for £93.9m plus VAT to recover its share of the costs, a claim the city council contested.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the dispute was later resolved.

Reform UK-controlled Derbyshire County Council also agreed to decommission the waste plant at a separate meeting on Wednesday.

In a statement, Derby City Council leader Nadine Peatfield said: "When we took control of the council, we inherited this project and a set of difficult circumstances that were not of our making.

"We said we would look at the evidence, explore every realistic option and make the decision that best protected Derby residents and council taxpayers.

"Around £147m has already been spent jointly on this project, and we have a responsibility to make sure that we do not expose residents to further unnecessary risk simply because money has already been committed.

"Our focus now is on securing reliable long-term waste treatment arrangements for Derby, protecting taxpayers, and carefully considering the future of the site to ensure it delivers the best possible outcome for local communities. That is what today's decision allows us to do."

Derbyshire County Council leader Alan Graves said: "The harsh reality is that this project has already cost a lot of public money which cannot be recovered.

"But evidence from the latest review demonstrates that further commitment to the project can no longer be warranted on commercial, financial or risk grounds.

"In simple terms, we have reached the point where the evidence no longer supports continued investment in the project.

"Putting my personal scepticism towards the project aside, this is a complex project which dates back more than 20 years and has suffered a number of setbacks which were out of the control of the two councils.

"Now, we must move forward with a clear direction, to minimise future risks and costs while continuing to secure reliable arrangements for treating Derby and Derbyshire's waste."

The councils will now begin planning the decommission and disposal of the facility and start making arrangements for the ongoing disposal of Derby and Derbyshire's waste and recycling when the contracts with current providers end, mostly in October 2027.

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