IT IS important that everyone has the opportunity to air their views on proposals for future treatment of waste in the county. However, we need to move away from landfill and find a solution which turns waste into a resource: we cannot afford not to.

Our Private Finance Initiative (PFI) business case has been subject to close scrutiny to test whether the project is affordable, whether it delivers value for money and meets Government priorities.

It has passed all these tests and will enable us to cut our waste management bill by over £60 million over 25 years.

Environmentally it helps us too – the PFI proposal gives major CO2 savings compared to staying with landfill.

AmeyCespa has included energy from waste in its proposal because there will still be some waste that cannot be recycled and needs disposal and/or treatment.

It will be the final process after mechanical sorting recovers recyclables and anaerobic digestion has been used to produce green electricity from organic waste.

AmeyCespa’s proposal gives us a long-term waste management solution that offers value for money and environmental sustainability.

All the correspondence we have received will be taken into account in the decision making process.

Bill Woolley, Director of city strategy, City of York Council.