5 August 2010

A major project in northwest England where Costain is Design and Construction Contractor for Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Limited, has won international recognition as the outstanding project of its type.

The Greater Manchester Recycling and Waste Contract for client Greater Manchester Waste Delivery Authority, will process 1.1 million tonnes of waste each year for 973,000 households and will serve a population of 2.2 million people. 

Costain's contribution as a key member of the project team is the construction of 43 waste facilities utilising 'state of the art' technology spread over 27 sites and valued at £397million.

The project has been singled out by a distinguished panel of international judges working with international accountancy firm KPMG and Infrastructure Journal magazine as one of the top 100 infrastructure projects currently underway worldwide.

In their special Infrastructure 100 published jointly by the two organisations, the project - the largest municipal waste contract in Western Europe - was named as the global winner of the 'Social Infrastructure - Other' category.

Among the glamorous projects Greater Manchester beat to take the top slot were the building of the world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai, retrofit of New York's iconic Empire State Building and the creation of London's 2012 Olympic village.

While the plaudits were welcome, the award had potentially much greater significance for Costain.

"It raises our profile and makes us the partner about whom a lot of those global businesses will be saying: 'That's who we'd like to work with'. There are a limited number of parties that have the experience to develop and deliver technologies of this scale and complexity, so having our profile up there gives us an edge over our competitors," said Mark Huddart, Waste Sector Director.

"If you're in the global infrastructure market, Infrastructure Journal is one of the premier publications. This achievement puts us up there and in focus for international players looking to work in the UK market," added Clive Marks, Group Treasurer. "The accolade would also attract the attention of the international banking community. It raises our credibility in the finance markets."

A Private Finance Initiative contract, "It is the social impact of such an impressive and innovative deal that made the Infrastructure 100 judges single out Greater Manchester as the global winner of this section," wrote Angus Leslie Melville, editor of Infrastructure Journal.

 

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