This guidance focuses on the options appraisal process undertaken to identify the residual waste infrastructure to be included in the Reference Project1 for the Outline Business Case (OBC).
This process should comprise a thorough appraisal of the options available to the Authority in relation to residual waste treatment i.e. the management of the residual waste stream from the point of delivery by the Waste Collection Authority (WCA) through to final disposal.
At the OBC stage the working assumption should be that a single Contractor will be responsible for all of the activities required to treat the residual waste once legal ownership of such waste has passed to the Contractor. This would include:
• Waste reception, storage, handling and transfer;
• Waste treatment;
• Transfer and sale of any products from waste treatment; and
• Transfer and disposal of any residues from waste treatment.
Consideration will have to be given as to whether other activities (e.g. the operation of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) or a composting facility) might be integrated with the residual waste management function. There is also a need to consider whether any downstream activities (e.g. landfill) should be disaggregated from the scope of the residual waste treatment contract. Detailed consideration of these contractual structuring issues is outside the scope of this guidance.
Following the identification of the appropriate residual waste technology, the Authority will have to consider how it will seek to fund the required investment. This will require a consideration of the funding options and a Stage 2 project level assessment of Value for Money (VfM). The assessment of the VfM of different funding options is outside the scope of this guidance but is covered fully in HM Treasury guidance.2 The appraisal of funding options should also be documented in the OBC.
________________________________________________________________
1 The Reference Project will need to include the up-stream infrastructure for recycling and composting of waste required to deliver the WS2007 targets of 50% recycling and composting by 2020 or sooner. The appraisal of options available in relation to recycling and composting is outside the scope of this guidance.
2 "Value for Money Assessment Guidance", HM Treasury, November 2006 available at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/4/4/vfm_assessmentguidance061006opt.pdf