The contract had originally been awarded to VT Group back in 2007 but VT's subsequent takeover in 2010 by Babcock led to Shanks being brought in last year to take the lead.
Shanks will build a waste treatment facility at South Kirkby, which will treat up to 230,000 tonnes a year of municipal solid waste. The plant will use various processes to recycle waste and help push the local authority's landfill diversion rate towards 90%.
The contract has been funded by the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) and a group of leading international banks; Barclays, BayernLB from Germany and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation from Japan.
GIB will provide up to £30.4m of senior debt and the international banks are together providing £121.7m.
At the new facility, some waste materials will be segregated for recycling. A refuse-derived fuel will be produced for processing at a multi-fuel plant being built at nearby Ferrybridge Power Station for energy recovery. Another onsite materials recycling facility will separate out the clean mixed recyclate material to be used by specialist markets.
The remaining organic waste will be treated using a state-of-the-art autoclave, which has already been built by VT and undergone testing. This process will sterilise the remaining material before it is fed into a 65,000 tonnes per annum anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, where it will be converted into biogas for renewable energy generation. This will both power the plant and export energy back to the grid. It is estimated that the process will generate sufficient green energy to power 3,000 homes. The residue from the AD process will be used as fertiliser.
Green waste will be processed via an enclosed air-controlled composting plant. The final compost material will be used for improving land remediation schemes across Wakefield.
In addition to the various technologies on site, Shanks will also take over a network of household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) and transfer stations.
The contract will see approximately 250 people recruited to work on construction of the new facilities and a further 60 permanent positions created.
Shanks chief executive Peter Dilnot said: "We are delighted to have signed this contract with Wakefield Council and look forward to working with the authority and local residents to increase their diversion from landfill. Our solution will help them make more from the waste they produce by increasing recycling, generating green energy and producing compost for land remediation and use by residents.
"We are excited that the UK Green Investment Bank has chosen this project as one of its first major investments, which will see Shanks draw on experience from across our group to deliver a genuinely sustainable solution."
Wakefield Council chief executive Joanne Roney said: "This is a big step forward in how a key public service is delivered in the district. The agreement means investment in household waste collection and recycling and more jobs for the district."
Alluding to the contractual difficulties,she added: "It has been a long journey and at times challenging, but throughout the negotiations we have never lost sight of the need for additional finance to deliver a waste management system for the future."
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