At a meeting of the Delegated Decisions, Milton Keynes Council agreed to extend the operating contract for the Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park (MKWRP) and to delegate authority to the Director Environment and Property to finalise the details of the extension. The council also approved a fuel supply agreement with West Northamptonshire Council. These decisions aim to ensure the continued operation of the MKWRP while a new long-term contract is procured.

Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park Contract Extension

The council approved a six-month extension to the operating contract for the Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park (MKWRP) from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026. They also delegated authority to the Director Environment and Property, in consultation with other directors and the Cabinet member for Resources and Customer Experience, Councillor Lauren Townsend, to extend the contract further for up to six months after that date.

The MKWRP is a waste treatment facility that uses several technologies to extract recyclable materials, process organic waste, and gasify remaining material to produce electricity¹. The council is currently in the process of procuring a new operator for the facility, and officers have determined that a contract commencement date of 1 October 2026 would be optimal to avoid disruption around planned maintenance shutdowns.

The report notes that:

During the first round of dialogue, the bidders were invited to suggest the optimal lead in time to manage the facility. The period between shutdowns (when the facility is offline for scheduled maintenance and lifecycle replacement) was suggested to be preferential. This was cited as being due to the operational complexities of taking over a facility immediately prior to or during a maintenance shut down.

The extension to the current contract with Thalia MK SPV Limited (Thalia) will allow for another round of dialogue with bidders before they submit detailed proposals.

Fuel Supply Agreement

The council approved a plan to accept a novation² of the fuel supply agreement (FSA) for receipt into the facility of waste from West Northamptonshire Council. Under the FSA, the MKWRP would accept a minimum of 57,000 tonnes per annum of municipal waste from West Northamptonshire for a minimum of ten years. This would mean that 120,000 tonnes of waste from Milton Keynes and West Northamptonshire would form the anchor tonnage for the plant.

The report states that the FSA will:

• Lock in waste tonnage processing
• Minimise operational risk
• Provide surety over income from third party gate fees

The council would not be obliged to accept waste during outages, and alternative disposal costs would be met by the supplier, Thalia WB. However, the council would miss out on the gate fee and third-party revenue benefits if it is not accepted into the facility.

Financial Implications

The report notes that the revised payment mechanism which will be in place during the extension period does carry financial implications for the Authority. The current contract assumes a £0 per tonne gate fee with the current contractor receiving all thirdparty income to offset costs.

The amended and recast payment mechanism is included in exempt Annex B to this decision. The Authority pays the contractor a monthly operating fee which is made up of: uplifted costs - core operational costs (e.g. staff, maintenance) with an agreed percentage uplift, non-uplifted costs are property costs (e.g. insurance, rates) and waste disposal costs. This is offset by third party revenues from the West Northamptonshire gate fee, the sale of electricity, government incentives, recycling and other third-party waste gate fees which are deducted from the monthly payment.