Cumbria Contract

RNS Number : 3969T

Shanks Group PLC

04 June 2009

Shanks signs £720 million PPP contract with Cumbria County Council

Shanks Group plc ('Shanks'), Europe's largest listed waste management group announces today that it has signed a 25-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP) waste disposal contract with Cumbria County Council worth around £720 million.

Financial closure of the approximately 220,000 tonne per annum contract was reached with a syndicate of three banks - Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Barclays and NIBC.

The contract - Shanks' fourth UK PFI/PPP contract - will see Shanks develop two Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities, each able to treat 75,000 tonnes of waste per annum, as well manage Cumbria's existing household waste recycling centres. This will enable Cumbria to divert 67% of its household waste from landfill by 2015.

The new MBT facilities will mean Cumbria is able to significantly increase the amount of recyclable material it recovers whilst also producing a solid recovered fuel (SRF). Whilst Shanks already has SRF contracts in place with UK cement kilns, the fuel created could also be used by local industry to reduce their dependence on traditional fossil fuels.

Tom Drury, Shanks' Group Chief Executive, said: 'PFI partnerships are a key component of our UK strategy and we're delighted to have secured this significant contract gain with a major local authority. We now look forward to working with Cumbria County Council to minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill and to maximise the opportunities for recovery and recycling of their waste materials.'