Funding for recycling left-overs

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Tens of millions of pounds of assembly government money is expected to be spent on providing a new plant in south Wales to dispose of waste effectively.

It will give up to £7.8m a year to Prosiect Gwyrdd (green project) - to get rid of waste left after recycling.

It is one of six schemes planned in Wales to treat food waste and rubbish that cannot be recycled or composted.

Welsh councils will provide most of the six schemes' funding and estimated the total costs will reach £74.3m by 2016.

New European rules will mean substantial fines for councils if they fail to meet increasingly tight limits on the amount of rubbish they can deposit in landfill sites.

Prosiect Gwyrdd plans to generate energy from waste which would otherwise have gone to landfill.

The scheme involves five local councils - Cardiff, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and the Vale of Glamorgan.

These authorities deal with 40% of municipal waste in Wales and needed this guarantee of assembly government funding to be able to sign a contract with a private sector partner.

Sustainability Minister Jane Davidson said: "We need new collection services and new infrastructure to use waste in the best possible way and stop dumping in landfill.

"The extra assembly government funding opens the way for Prosiect Gwyrdd to move forwards so we can make the most of our resources by producing much needed energy.

"It will also mean investment in jobs as this new plant is constructed and people employed to work and run it, providing local employment."

Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) leader John Davies said councils had called for a "huge investment" in dealing with waste for "many years".

"We estimate the overall funding gap to deal with food collections, food waste treatment and energy from waste to be in the region of £120m by the time we hit 2024-25.

"Today's announcement is testament to the huge progress that the waste consortia across Wales are making and will enable the first wave of procurement projects to succeed, allowing others to follow."

'Significant collaboration'

It is understood the decision to give the funding guarantees to Prosiect Gwyrdd was taken by First Minister Rhodri Morgan, rather than Ms Davidson, in recognition of the long-term impact on assembly government budgets.

But the local authorities will be told that the funding will be subject to tight conditions and quality assurance processes to ensure value for money.

Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste a year are left over after recycling, what is called residual waste which cannot be practically recycled.

There are various options for how the waste can be dealt with - all of them complex - but they are broadly split between biological and heat treatment processes.

Those behind Prosiect Gwyrdd say the scheme may become the most significant collaboration between local authorities in Welsh history.