Under the Freedom of Information Act the ‘No to Landfill’ campaign group has obtained a copy of a 1997 deal between North Tyneside Council and waste management company Sita.
In the contract Sita agreed to handle 80,000 tonnes of the borough’s waste with 60,000 being burnt at a waste to energy facility in Billingham on Teesside, and the remaining 20,000 being buried at a landfill site in Ellington, near Ashington.
But last year only 7,000 tonnes of North Tyneside’s waste went to Billingham while the rest ended up in landfill at Seghill, not Ellington.
“When the contract to handle the borough’s waste went out to tender Sita made a lovely presentation to the council in November 1996 over its huge waste capacity and why they were the best choice,” said Alan Fidler, co-ordinator of the No to Landfill group.
“But they have constantly failed to meet the targets they themselves have set.”
However, Sita claim they are fully complying with the terms of the contract.
A spokesperson said: “The council and Sita UK have worked closely together to meet the challenges that arise within our contractual term and Sita UK is fully complying with its obligations under the waste disposal contract.”
In presentation documents shown to the council Sita said the Billingham facility has an annual capacity of 225,000 tonnes, with a deal already signed with the four Teesside boroughs to burn 160,000, leaving North Tyneside with the rest.
“If this happened North Tyneside would be burning around 75 per cent of its waste, meaning it would be way ahead of the government’s target to divert 40 per cent of waste away from landfill by 2020,” said Mr Fidler
“So clearly North Tyneside snapped up the deal, but the contract they signed is abysmal. It is full of holes and has no ‘teeth’.