Firm picked to turn rubbish into electricity

A PREFERRED bidder has been selected to build a controversial new waste treatment plant in South Yorkshire’s Dearne Valley.

The Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) Waste Partnership had whittled the shortlist of companies to build the facility in Manvers down to just two – SITA UK Lend Lease and 3SE, a consortium of Shanks Group and Scottish and Southern Energy.

Yesterday it was announced that 3SE has been selected and the company now plans to build a plant to turn ordinary household rubbish into a “solid recovered fuel” which can then be used to generate electricity at the Ferrybridge power station near Pontefract.

The BDR Waste Partnership has secured £77.4m of Private Finance Initiative funding from central government towards the cost of the scheme, although the actual cost will be far greater.