The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) has launched a new, £19 million ‘Tailored Investment Fund’ to help finance waste projects in the capital.
Part of LWARB’s Business Plan for the years April 2013 to April 2015, the fund will be run in conjunction with project sponsors to ‘ensure that a potential infrastructure project is not put in jeopardy through lack of finance’, as well as protecting infrastructure projects from potential defaults.
The fund comes after government unexpectedly withdrew £217 million of PFI funding from three waste projects, leaving the future viability of three incinerators ‘under threat’.
Business Plan
According to LWARB, the Business Plan has two main aims: ensuring that London’s infrastructure requirements are ‘delivered ahead of the economic curve such that the opportunity for early landfill diversion is not missed’ and helping London’s waste authorities improve their performance ‘at an affordable cost using London’s size to deliver more efficient solutions’.
In order to achieve these aims, in addition to the Tailored Investment Fund, the Business Plan provides details of a Waste Efficiencies Programme, which LWARB claims can help London waste authorities save money without cuts to frontline services.
Launched in 2012, the programme provides good practice workshops and crew training and promotes London boroughs to work together on joint procurement projects to ’provide economies of scale’.
The Waste Efficiencies Programme also provides support to London boroughs wishing to communicate information regarding reuse and recycling to local residents.
Further, as LWARB has found London’s recycling performance to be ‘plateauing’. LWARB will also be launching a £1.5 million fund ‘to help London waste authorities maintain and improve their performance’ In order to help ‘maintain momentum’.
Managing waste ‘optimally’ could save £300 million
According to the Business Plan, by managing waste management ‘optimally’, London’s waste management bill could be reduced ‘in excess of £300 million (of £2 billion).
Speaking of the Business Plan, Richard Tracey, Chairman of LWARB and Mayor of London’s Representative, said: “Access to finance is a critical barrier to infrastructure delivery in London. For this reason, this plan outlines a flexible approach to infrastructure financing. Investment in new waste infrastructure to move the treatment of waste away from landfill has substantial benefits for London and the UK.
“Waste infrastructure investments create jobs for Londoners, and the businesses created continue to invest in the local economy for the lifetime of the plant,” he continued.
LWARB states that it has pledged almost £51 million to various waste infrastructure projects over the past two years. This includes financing the TEG Group – an organic waste firm – to build London’s first anaerobic digestion plant. This year LWARB claims it has committed to increase anaerobic digestion capacity and to build a new plastic reprocessing plant.
Programme funding available to LWARB for the period to 31 March 2015 is approximately £22.5 million. LWARB’s budget is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with the purpose of improving waste management in London.
Read more about LWARB’s Business Plan 2013/15.
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