OREANDA-NEWS. ITOCHU Corporation, together with SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT subsidiary, SITA UK, and Sembcorp Industries subsidiary, Sembcorp Utilities UK has signed a 30-year resource recovery contract worth approximately GBP 1.6 billion (Approximately 256 billion yen) with the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (hereinafter "MWDA"). ITOCHU Corporation has a 20 per cent stake in the consortium.

ITOCHU has developed a total of 4 EfW projects in the UK, following participation in South Tyne & Wear Waste Management Partnership, a contract executed in April 2011, the Integrated Waste Management PFI Contract in Cornwall Council, a contract executed in March 2013 and the West London Residual Waste Services PFI Contract, a contract executed in November 2013. As a result, ITOCHU will be involved in about 20% of the annual waste volume treated by Energy-from-Waste facilities in the UK and contribute to reduce greenhouse gases and the amount of waste to be landfilled.

The contract is to manage 430,000 tonnes of residual household waste each year over 30 years. It includes the design, build, finance and operation of a rail loading waste transfer station and a new Energy-from-Waste plant, which will generate electricity for the equivalent of 63,000 households.

Residual waste (the waste left over once all of the recyclable material has been separated out) collected from five authorities constituting the MWDA (Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral) and the unitary authority of Halton Borough Council, which have a combined population of 1.5 million people, will be transported by rail to new Energy-from-Waste facility at Teesside in the northeastern UK, which uses Energy-from-Waste technology to convert the material into energy. By using this solution, the MRWA will be able to divert 92 per cent of it residual waste from landfill and will save 130,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

ITOCHU will make full use of its experience in this field to strengthen its initiatives in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.