Ellesmere Port MP Andrew Miller has written to the Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority (MRWA) asking it to reconsider its decision to award a residual waste contract to SITA UK.
The £1.2 billion contract was awarded to SITA as preferred bidder in April, meaning that waste will be transported by rail from Merseyside to an energy from waste facility in Teesside.
As a result, a rival bid by Covanta to build its own facility at Ince Park in the MPs Cheshire constituency was rejected.
In a letter to MRWA chief executive Carl Beer, Andrew Miller wrote: “Trucking and rail freighting Merseyside’s waste across the country to Teesside for treatment, is to sat the least, counter-intuitive.
“When that is coupled with the loss of a £500 million inward investment project by a leading US corporation providing 600 construction jobs and 90 full time operation roles, I feel I need to ask further questions.”
He went on to question whether the cost savings as a result of the deal with SITA were worth it compared to the investment that would be provided into the local economy from Covanta.
This follows criticism from Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson about the award of preferred bidder status to SITA.
Speaking last month, he said: “I feel the city and the wider city region has had a massive opportunity for major infrastructure investment snatched from its grasp and hundreds of potential jobs which we desperately need have gone to the north east.
“I want to understand why the city region leaders have not been involved in such a huge decision and why I, as the Mayor of Liverpool, with Liverpool contributing more to the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority than any other authority, had to read about the decision in a press release after the decision was made.”
