The Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) was England's largest waste disposal authority, responsible for the management and disposal of municipal waste from Greater Manchester.[2] It dealt with 1.1 million tonnes of waste produced each year, from approximately 1 million households and a population of over 2.27 million in the metropolitan districts of Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford — though part of Greater Manchester, the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan administers its own waste disposal operations, however they were represented on the authority for administration purposes. The waste came primarily from household waste collections and 20 household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) provided and serviced by the GMWDA. It handled around 4% of the nation's municipal waste.[2]
On 1 April 2018, the GMWDA was abolished and its functions and all property, rights and liabilities were transferred to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.[7]
Strategy
The GMWDA aimed to deliver at least 50% recycling and 75% diversion from landfill through its contractual guarantee with Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Limited.[8]
Greater Manchester Waste PFI contract
In April 2009, the GMWDA signed a 25-year private finance initiative (PFI) waste and recycling contract with Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Limited, a partnership between Viridor and John Laing. Since then, a network of 42 recycling and waste management facilities across 24 sites have been constructed. The construction cost was £640 million over five years.[9]
Materials recovery facility which sorts the kerbside recyclable materials (commingled) into different material types, from where they are sent for recycling
Four public education centres (two existing and two new) provide educational resources for school, community and other interested groups.
Residual waste that cannot be recycled, instead of being sent to landfill, was processed into solid recovered fuel (SRF), through the MBT process, for use by chemical producer Ineos Chlor for energy production at its plant at Runcorn. The 275,000 tonnes of fuel fed to the combined heat and power (CHP) plant produced electricity and steam, replacing energy generated from non-renewable sources.[10]