Public Services minister Bernard Flouquet gave a press briefing on waste management in the Sir James Sausmarez Hall at the Town Markets yesterday. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0604801)

DIFFERENT waste-treatment options remain on the table after the names of eight short-listed companies were released today. The favoured submissions include incineration, mechanical-biological treatment, pyrolysis and gasification.

If all goes well, work could begin in autumn next year, but the Public Services report has some elements likely to cause a stir. One of these is a recommendation that Public Services decides who should build the plant after the tenders have been evaluated, not the States.

And a report by the Waste Disposal People’s Panel claiming the existing tendering process was ‘fundamentally flawed’ has also been sent out to all States members which shows a behind-the-scenes rift within the department that set it up.

Public Services minister Bernard Flouquet said he could not speculate on the cost of the project given that the eight interested parties had a variety of solutions. The recommendation that the department together with Treasury decides who wins the contract would show those involved that government meant business, said Deputy Flouquet.