Hampshire Integra Project

• In the early 1980s, Hampshire County Council (HCC) recognised its landfill would run out by 2000. HCC had 5 incinerators dealing with some of the county's municipal waste, but it became clear that these incinerators were out-dated and would not pass the requirements to be introduced by the Environmental Protection Act 1990. An incinerator was proposed on land owned by HCC in Portsmouth on the site of an existing incinerator.

• A planning application went to committee early 1993 with officer recommendation for approval, but members did not support it and stated the need for a wider strategic approach to deal with municipal waste.

• 1995 Core Strategy was produced which divided the County into 3 areas, and aiming to increase recycling by 25% and holding municipal waste at 1995 levels. The county would need 3 EfW facilities, 3 centralised composting facilities and 3 MRFs, a network of transfer stations (9) and 26 HRCs.

• Delivery of the facilities went out to tender. Won by Onyx (now Veolia) which named its bid Project Integra.

• Facilities secured: EfW plant at Chineham (further details are outlined below); other facilities secured for composting and recycling; MRF at Alton, August 2004 - Onyx acquired land (brownfield site) and submitted the planning application; EfW facilities opened at Marchwood, October 2004 and at Portsmouth, April 2005.

Keys to the delivery of Hampshire's waste infrastructure facilities:

• Recognised the need to look for alternatives to landfill at an early stage and thus had some time to look at alternatives.

• Onyx engaged all the waste collection authorities and other key players including parish/town councillors who signed up to supporting the waste strategy. Good communication and trust were developed between all parties.

• Onyx carried the risk to procure the sites, when not in HCC's ownership, submit applications and licences etc. This was successfully achieved through a process of on-going consultation and community engagement, including trips to see existing facilities relevant to the Hampshire strategy.

• HCC successfully educated its residents in acknowledging that the issue of waste disposal is everybody's problem and solutions needed to be found.

HCC took a long time to deliver its first facility after recognising the need for an alternative to landfill. Valuable lessons can be learned from Hampshire's approach and it is hoped this would reduce the delays in the delivery of waste infrastructure facilities for other authorities.