PUBLIC SERVICES is to spend £196,000 replacing a waste compactor at Mont Cuet.

The department met yesterday for its monthly meeting as the Waste Disposal Authority and voted unanimously to replace the machine that squashes rubbish at the landfill site.

Board members discussed whether it would be better to buy a new compactor or to lease one for three years, after which it was hoped the new £93.5m. waste-to-energy plant would be ready at Longue Hougue.

PSD senior project manager Rob Roussel told members there were no used compactors available.

‘There really is no alternative but to get in a new one,’ he said, ‘whether that is to lease it or to buy it.’

Deputy minister Scott Ogier asked about the state of the current machine.

‘Is there no way the existing one could limp along for the next three years?’ he said.

Mr Roussel replied that there was no chance it would. Deputy Ogier then asked if a compactor was necessary at this time.

The new plant would be built in a few years, he said, so he questioned whether Mont Cuet could accommodate non-compacted waste until then.

Mr Roussel said compacting could not be avoided because it was a requirement of the licence. ‘I think for the future management of the site, for gas extraction, etc, you do need to have a well compacted site.’