GMWDA Energy Deal of the Year Award runners-up

Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA), provider of waste disposal services to the households of Rochdale has taken the runner-up position in the Environmental Finance Magazine Renewable Energy Deal of the Year Award. This is Environmental Finance Magazine’s third annual awards and recognises the leaders in environmental markets and finance.

The awards were open to transactions that had closed in the 12 months to June 2009, and Environmental Finance collected nominations and polled market contacts to draw up a short-list of deals. This short-list was presented to an informal external judging panel, before the Environmental Finance editorial team decided upon the winners.

The project has been secured in highly exceptional financial circumstances and there has been more than two years of intensive working between the Authority, Viridor Laing and the funders to achieve such a success. The contract is recognised to be the largest municipal waste contract in Western Europe.

Councillor Neil Swannick, Chairman of GMWDA said: “We are very proud to receive this award, which shows our achievement in signing the Contract in a challenging economic climate. I believe that we can continue to move forward and see the benefits of this cost efficient and sustainable waste management system.”

GMWDA are being recognised for the environmental credentials of the project. GMWDA say the contract will enable Greater Manchester to recycle and compost at least 50% of all its waste, as well as diverting 75% away from landfill and will also create green electricity through Anaerobic Digestion. Residual waste that cannot be recycled will be processed into a fuel (refuse derived fuel) which will feed a new combined heat and power plant, producing electricity and steam to replace energy currently generated from non-renewable sources.

The 25 year Contract with Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Limited was signed in April 2009, worth £3.8 billion to the contractor over a 25 year period. The £631m construction programme is creating state-of-the-art recycling facilities in Greater Manchester. The Contract is providing a revolutionary integrated solution for up to 1.4 million tonnes of municipal