Councils decide to withdraw from waste treatment centre project

Cabinet Members at Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council have decided to withdraw from a long-running project to fix and bring a waste treatment centre into use at their respective Cabinet meetings today (Wednesday 23 September 2026).

Following a comprehensive review, officers from both councils recommended that the best option to protect the interests of council tax-payers was to decommission and dispose of the Derby and Derbyshire Waste Treatment Centre in Sinfin and seek alternative longer-term arrangements for the disposal of the city and county’s household waste.

The review was launched in May following a procurement process which concluded the market was unable to offer a solution for fixing and operating the facility on terms that provided sufficient protection for council tax-payers against potentially significant costs and risks in the future.

Leader of Derby City Council Councillor Nadine Peatfield said:

“Today, Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council have taken an important decision about the future of the Derby and Derbyshire Waste Treatment Centre.

“This is a project that has been part of Derby’s story for almost 20 years. It has been complex, it has faced significant challenges, and it has already cost a substantial amount of public money.

“When we took control of the Council, we inherited this project and a set of difficult circumstances that were not of our making. We said we would look at the evidence, explore every realistic option and make the decision that best protected Derby residents and council taxpayers. We have done exactly that.

“While the technology could potentially have been made to work, we could not secure commercial terms that gave the councils sufficient protection from the significant financial and technical risks involved. Having carefully considered all the options available, both councils have agreed that withdrawing from the project is the right course of action.

“Around £147 million has already been spent jointly on this project, and we have a responsibility to make sure that we do not expose residents to further unnecessary risk simply because money has already been committed.

“Our focus now is on securing reliable long-term waste treatment arrangements for Derby, protecting taxpayers, and carefully considering the future of the site to ensure it delivers the best possible outcome for local communities. That is what today’s decision allows us to do.”

Leader of Derbyshire County Council Councillor Alan Graves said:

“This is not a decision that has been taken lightly. 

“It’s a decision we’ve taken following an extensive review, having considered every realistic option – and it’s the most responsible course of action, based on the robust evidence available today, to protect the future interests of Derby and Derbyshire residents.

“The harsh reality is that this project has already cost a lot of public money which cannot be recovered.

“But evidence from the latest review demonstrates that further commitment to the project can no longer be warranted on commercial, financial or risk grounds.

“In simple terms, we have reached the point where the evidence no longer supports continued investment in the project. We have tested the market, explored alternative approaches and reviewed the options again. And based on the evidence, we cannot be confident that spending more taxpayers’ money would lead to a successful outcome.

“Putting my personal scepticism towards the project aside, this is a complex project which dates back more than 20 years and has suffered a number of setbacks which were out of the control of the two councils.

“While myself and the Leader of Derby City Council inherited circumstances which were not of our making, our focus has always been on making sure that the future use of public funds provides value for money for residents.

“It was necessary for us to complete a rigorous process to ensure the decisions we take now are in the best interests of Derby and Derbyshire’s residents in the future.

“Now, we must move forward with a clear direction, to minimise future risks and costs while continuing to secure reliable arrangements for treating Derby and Derbyshire’s waste.”

The rapid review considered a number of alternatives for delivering the rectification project, alongside options which were previously ruled out. This work concluded that decommissioning the waste treatment centre offers the best overall balance of cost, risk and deliverability.

The councils will now begin planning the decommission and disposal of the facility and start making arrangements for the ongoing disposal of Derby and Derbyshire’s waste and recycling when the contracts with current providers end, mostly in October 2027.

Total expenditure on the project jointly by Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council stands at £147.33m to date and the councils are progressing an application to Government to treat this amount as capital expenditure in accountancy terms.