Derbyshire councils consider disposing of waste centre project after £147.33m of expenditure

Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council had stated in August 2024 that they had successfully addressed ‘key issues’ to pave the way to fix and operate the Derby and Derbyshire Waste Treatment Centre, in Sinfin, Derby, after the project had been plagued by a series of setbacks since the scheme was first launched in 2006.

However, the councils have revealed that Cabinet members at both authorities will be asked at meetings on September 23 to consider recommendations to withdraw from the scheme to fix and bring the centre into use as the councils prepare to cut their losses in a bid to protect taxpayers from ongoing continued costs.

Derbyshire County Council’s Reform UK Leader, Cllr Alan Graves, and Derby City Council’s Labour Leader, Cllr Nadine Peatfield, stated: “This project has a long history spanning two decades and while our personal scepticism towards the project is long-standing and publicly known, since taking over the councils in 2024 and 2025 respectively, our focus has been on taking a measured and evidence-led approach.

“We inherited circumstances which were not of our making and it was necessary for us to complete a rigorous process to ensure the decisions we take now are in the best interests of Derby and Derbyshire’s residents in the future.

“The councils have considered every realistic option and based on robust evidence, the recommendation reflects the need to minimise future risk and costs while continuing to secure reliable arrangements for treating Derby and Derbyshire’s waste.

“Our focus has always been on making sure that the future use of public funds provides value for money for residents, and the review suggests further commitment to the project can no longer be justified on commercial, financial or risk grounds.”

Both councils originally agreed in July 2023 to pay a £93.5m out-of-court settlement to Resource Recovery Solutions’ waste management team’s administrators during a dispute after the councils terminated a contract for the waste management team to manage the facility, on Sinfin Lane, at Sinfin.

Long-awaited plans to finally fix and operate the temporarily-closed Derby and Derbyshire waste treatment facility further stalled when the county and city councils fell out after Derbyshire County Council issued an invoice to Derby City Council in January, 2024, for £93.9m plus VAT to recover its share of the new project costs which the city council disputed.

However, thecouncils announced they had successfully resolved this dispute and once again looked at fixing and operating the facility.

But despite their efforts, a review launched in May following a procurement process concluded the market was unable to offer a solution for fixing and operating the facility on terms that provided sufficient protection for council taxpayers against potentially significant costs and risks in the future.

The review considered a number of alternatives for delivering the rectification project, alongside options which were previously ruled out.

This work concluded that decommissioning the waste treatment centre offers the best overall balance of cost, risk and deliverability, according to the councils.

Subject to recommendations being approved, the councils will begin planning the decommissioning and disposal of the facility and start making arrangements for the ongoing disposal of Derby and Derbyshire’s waste and recycling when the contracts with current providers end, mostly in October 2027.

If Cabinet Members agree to withdraw from the project, the councils will progress an application to Government to treat this amount as capital expenditure in accountancy terms.

Cllrs Graves and Peatfield added: “Residents will not see any disruption to waste disposal services as a result of this recommendation.

“Since 2019, the councils have maintained alternative arrangements for the treatment and disposal of waste and have planned throughout for all potential outcomes.”

Originally, Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council had awarded a contract in 2009 to RRS – which was a partnership between infrastructure firm Interserve and waste management company Renewi – to manage the councils’ residual waste, design, build, commission, and operation of the waste treatment facility in Sinfin, Derby.

However, the county council revealed in July 2023 that both councils had agreed to pay a share of a total £93.5m out-of-court settlement to RRS’s waste management team’s administrators to resolve a dispute after the local authorities had terminated a contract with the waste management team to manage the waste facility.

Both councils resolved in July 2023, to pay RRS to protect council tax-payers from the risk of further significant costs after RRS’s administrators had originally claimed they were owed £187m, according to the county council.

The county council had stated this total settlement sum of £93.5m had been shared by the councils in accordance with an agreed split with £36.57m paid by the city council and £56.93m paid by the county council.

Both councils were reluctant at the time to discuss what effects the on-going temporary closure of the waste site had for the councils, the county and Derby in terms of costs, lost income, expense and the need to fulfil environmental waste disposal commitments.

Campaigners and residents had also previously complained that the Sinfin waste centre scheme would pose a threat to air quality.

National government policy and guidance at the time of the project’s launch in 2006 was directed at supporting councils to develop large-scale waste treatment projects to divert waste from landfill.

The scheme was designed to sort and dry waste and then heat it to produce a gas which would then be burnt to produce electricity but it suffered a number of setbacks which the councils say were out of their control.

In July, 2016, the technology provider for gasification equipment installed in the facility went bankrupt during the construction of the waste treatment centre.

And in September, 2018, during the commissioning process, the facility was unable to pass acceptance tests and in April, 2019, amidst unresolved issues, the councils unsuccessfully tried to compel banks which loaned money for the project to step in or find a suitable substitute contractor and a Project Agreement was terminated on August 2, 2019.

Technical investigations were subsequently affected by international travel restrictions imposed during the Coronavirus pandemic resulting in significant delays.

In November 2021, following a survey to assess the condition and capability of the facility, the councils agreed to develop business cases to either rectify defects and use the facility or close it and dispose of the councils’ waste using a third party.

In February, 2023, both councils agreed to fix and operate the facility on the basis that it was the most viable and cost-effective option that would give the councils more certainty over the cost of dealing with household waste in the future.

By July, 2023, both councils had also agreed to pay the shared £93.5m settlement to RRS’s waste management team’s administrators to protect council tax-payers from the risk of further significant costs over the dispute.

The councils have since been unable to agree commercial terms that meet their requirements during a procurement process with bidders to operate the facility despite feedback that the technology at the facility was viable.

Subsequently, the procurement process closed in May 2026, and following a review the councils are due to consider withdrawing from the scheme after amounting a total expenditure on the project, so far, of £147.33m.

The scheme was overseen by Labour and more recently Conservative county council administrations before the current Reform UK county council was elected in May 2025.

Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice MP said: “This is another example of scandalous waste and failure by the uniparty over decades.

“Now Reform is sorting it out and finally giving people some much-needed transparency about what’s happened.

“Close to £150m wasted on a project that’s never worked and has just been a massive money pit since 2009. People need to be held accountable for all of that taxpayers’ money.”