In April 2009 the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) signed a 25 year Private Finance Initiative waste and recycling contract with Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Limited. The deal triggered a £640 million construction programme, creating a network of state-of-the-art recycling facilities over a 5 year period.
It is estimated that at least 5000 much-needed jobs in the building trade and the wider economy will be added to the 620 jobs at Greater Manchester Waste based in Bolton, which are secured and upskilled to "green collar" jobs by this contract. Viridor Laing are planning to increase the permanent workforce by another 116 staff once the facilities are up and running. This contract is worth £3.8 billion to Viridor Laing and will increase costs (at today's prices) to Greater Manchester householders by £1 per week. However, this compares favourably with the cost of a "do nothing, build nothing" option which would cost an extra £2 a week in Landfill Tax and penalties.
The waste management project is providing a revolutionary integrated solution for the 1.3 million tonnes of municipal waste which the Authority handles each year, and is the first of its kind in the UK on this scale.
GMWDA and the 9 District Councils are aiming to build on their recycling success, from 7% of Greater Manchester's municipal waste in 2002/03 to over 30% today. Within the new contract Greater Manchester will be able to recycle and compost an impressive amount of at least 50% of all waste by 2015 - reflecting residents' desires to recycle more.
GMWDA, through this contract will divert more than 75% of Greater Manchester's waste away from landfill which will be the greatest amount of diversion of all local authorities across the UK. GMWDA is responsible for 5% of the UK's municipal waste and will be making a powerful contribution to ensuring that the UK complies with its requirements under the European Union Landfill Directive.
