Alliance and Leicester appointed mandated lead arranger for £100m waste treatment

Merseyside development to create around 100 new jobs

Alliance and Leicester Commercial Bank has been appointed mandated lead arranger to finance the construction of an integrated waste treatment and power generation plant in Hooton Park, Merseyside.

The plant, to be built, owned and operated by Biossence , will cost in the region of £100m.

The proposal is currently undergoing planning consent and, if successful, construction will be completed by 2009 - the plant will have the capacity to process 400,000 tonnes of municipal waste per annum.

Commenting on the deal, Ian Lawrence, Head of Infrastructure at Alliance and Leicester Commercial Bank, said: "We are delighted to be taking a lead role on this deal with Biossence ".

"The facility will create in the region of 100 new jobs in the area and go some way to meeting EU and UK regulations that set strict targets for landfill diversion, with high fines for non-compliance." The plant will use a range of tried and tested technologies including recycling and autoclaving - a technique that utilises heat and steam to sort waste into recyclable components or biofuel for power generation.

Autoclaving reduces waste volumes by around 60%, without the need for consumers to sort waste prior to collection, eliminating the need to introduce separate bins for different waste types.

Lawrence adds: "As well as the input benefits of a plant such as this one - less waste going to landfill - there are also significant output benefits".

"The plant will generate in the region of 20MW of renewable electricity, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and helping the battle against global warming." Extensive local consultations, as well as traffic studies, have taken place.

The site is located close to the Manchester Ship Canal so the plant will receive the majority of the waste by barge, thus limiting HGV movements in the area.

Potentially, the plant could also handle up to 270,000 tonnes of waste from the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA), if Biossence is successful with its bid for a contract to be awarded later this year.

Although no agreement has been negotiated to date, the plant's sponsors are keen to secure waste supply contracts from regional waste authorities such as the MWDA.

For further information on Alliance and Leicester Commercial Bank, contact Ian Lawrence and the bank's Infrastructure team on 020 7907 3637 or visit www.alliance-leicestercommercialbank.co.uk.

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