A draft outline business case has recommended a public private partnership (PPP) for national solid waste management in the Cayman Islands.

Prepared for the Cayman Islands Government by environmental consultancy company Amec Foster Wheeler, the outline business case (OBC) is now available for public review and comment.

The report assesses overall affordability and the implementation and delivery options of the proposed Integrated Solid Waste Management System (ISWMS). It concludes that a major “design, build, finance, operate and maintain contract” - for the PPP arrangement - offers the best value for money. This is based on the results from financial analysis by consultancy firm KPMG, with estimated operational costs of the new ISWMS project expected to be approximately US$538 million over the 25-year PPP arrangement.

In comparison, the operational costs of a status quo-type system of just landfilling waste on the islands, is expected to cost approximately US$418 million over a 25-year period. For the extra investment required for the ISWMS project of around US$4.8 million per year, the proposed solution will greatly reduce the landfilling of waste, as it will either be reduced, reused, recycled or recovered with the new system and the ISWMS will ultimately reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by up to 95 per cent from current landfill amounts. The ISWMS project also includes costing for the future remediation/closing of the three existing unlined landfills on the islands.

At the time the consultation draft OBC was being drawn up, and the financial models were being run by Amec Foster Wheeler and KPMG, the potential to mine waste at the George Town landfill was considered as a possible component of the future ISWMS project for the Cayman Islands. Since that time, a policy decision has been made to exclude mining of waste from the ISWMS project, as the potential of long-term nuisance conditions from mining, such as odours, outweigh the benefit of gaining back the small area of landfill space. Therefore, while financial information regarding the mining of waste at the George Town landfill is addressed in the draft OBC document, it is no longer under consideration for inclusion in the ISWMS project, and the final OBC will reflect this.

According to the OBC report, a public private partnership is also more likely to attract competition by major overseas companies with a robust track record of building, implementing and operating integrated waste management system solutions.