A logistics and environmental company forming part of the ACS Group, Urbaser will build a new urban waste processing plant in the Romainville district of Paris which will be among the most modern facilities in Europe, it claims. Here will be processed almost a quarter of the refuse generated in the French capital and its surrounding areas - corresponding to the 'output' of more than 1 million people. The plant will boast its own railway station and pier such that refuse can be received by truck, rail and river barge.

Scheduled for completion in 2011, the plant will process over 400 000 tonnes of solid urban waste per annum. Before then, Urbaser will use existing facilities to manage refuse from Paris and the surrounding areas. Urbaser will ultimately produce 60 GW of electrical power at the site by building what it claims will be the largest bio-methane plant in Europe.

In addition to the above contract, Urbaser has been awarded a 20-year concession for the construction and operation of a waste processing plant on the island of Guadeloupe in the French Antilles. The contract, which is worth Euro 590 million (US$ 930 million), will cover the processing of 150 000 tonnes of refuse per year that will enable the production of 65 GW of electrical power.

These two contracts will increase to six the number of French affiliate Urbaser Environnement’s waste processing facilities on French soil. The others are located in Marseilles, Roanne, Varennes-Jarcy and Calais.