Talks to find waste treatment plant operator fail

Talks to find an operator to fix and run a controversial waste treatment incinerator in Derby have ended without a contract being awarded.

The Sinfin Waste Treatment Centre failed initial testing in 2017 and has never been used.

Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council, which jointly own the site, invited bids for the contract in January 2025 and, at the time, hoped the facility would be up and running in November 2028.

However, the authorities said on Wednesday that the procurement process would be brought to an end and they would carry out a "rapid review" looking at the future options for the project, with a report going to leaders "later in this year".

They added no decisions had been made "at this stage" regarding the waste centre's long-term future.

The waste plant was intended to divert 190,000 tonnes of rubbish per year away from landfill by heat-treating it to produce gas, which it would then burn to create enough electricity to power 14,000 homes.

It was approved in 2012 and was expected to open in 2017 but failed to pass initial testing. It was evenutally mothballed in 2019.

Both councils voted to fix and operate the facility in February 2023.

Months later, they agreed to pay out £93.5m to the company that designed and built the site - £36.7m from the city council and £59.93m from the county council.

But, the authorities ended up in a dispute after the county council issued an invoice to the city council of £93.9m plus VAT to recover its share of costs for the project.

That dispute was resolved in August 2024, when the councils said they would push ahead with plans to get the site up and running.

The beginning of the procurement process last year was hailed as "a major step forward" in securing the future of the site.

Waste management firms Biffa and Thalia were invited as companies suitably qualified to move forward to the "competitive dialogue" phase of the procurement in March last year, the councils said on Wednesday.

The authorities added: "While feedback from the process was that the technology at the facility is viable and the facility could be rectified, agreement on the commercial terms of the contract could not be reached and neither bidder submitted a final tender."

In a joint statement, Nadine Peatfield, the Labour leader of Derby City Council, and Alan Graves, the Reform UK leader of Derbyshire County Council, said ensuring taxpayer value for money was "our top priority".

They added: "While it's essential that the next step is thorough and robust, we recognise the significant public interest in this project and will do all we can to carry out this work as quickly as possible.

"We aim to complete a rapid options appraisal by late summer for the councils to decide the next steps we will take together."

Steve Hassall, leader of the Derby Conservatives, said the collapse of the process confirmed there was "little genuine commercial confidence" in the project.

He added: "After hundreds of millions of pounds, years of delays, legal disputes, technical failures and ongoing maintenance costs, we are now once again back at 'reviewing options'.

"At some stage political leaders need to face reality and ask whether Derby and Derbyshire taxpayers can continue pouring money, time and resources into what has become a massive white elephant."

The facility is fiercely opposed by environmental campaigners and local residents.

And controversy over the management and costs of the project helped spark a political crisis in Derby that saw the now Derby South MP Baggy Shanker ousted as leader of the city council in 2024.

Current leader of the authority, Peatfield, who is a councillor for the Sinfin area of the city, voiced her opposition to the plant in the past but is now, along with the Labour cabinet, overseeing the opening of the site.

Shanker, who previously raised his concerns over the facility in Parliament, reiterated calls for the incinerator to be scrapped after news of the collapse of talks with contractors.

"Now the procurement process has ended without a contractor being appointed, the case for keeping this failed project alive is weaker than ever," he said.

Listen to BBC Radio Derby on Sounds and follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.