Council Faces £10 Million Pound High Court Battle over Household Waste Incinerator Contract...

Local Taxpayers could be on the hook of a £10 million pound court battle as waste company sues Hartlepool Borough Council alleging breach of procurement rules...

15th July 2025

A Teesside Council is said to be at the centre of a major legal row that could see local taxpayers being forced to cough up a bill of £10 million pounds, after a firm excluded from a Teesside multi-council waste incinerator contract launched legal proceedings in the High Court.

Green Recovery Projects Limited filed a High Court claim against Hartlepool Borough Council, who's said to be leading the procurement of a proposed £300 million pound Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF) contract, with the firm alleging Hartlepool Borough Council breached public contract regulations after the waste firm was disqualified from the tendering process—leaving the company liable for an estimated £10 million pounds in costs they claim was incurred during bidding process.

Despite much of the proceedings being held behind closed doors with little information in the public domain, its claimed according to court reports that Hartlepool Borough Council formally issued its defence of the case in March 2025, with a judge making an order in the proceedings on 20th May 2025. The legal battle is understood to be ongoing, with significant implications for the future of the TVERF project as well as the public finances of the partner councils involved.

The planned energy-from-waste facility is due to be built at the Grangetown Prairie site at Teesworks and is intended to process up to 450,000 tonnes of residual household waste every year. Seven local council's are said to be jointly involved in the scheme: Hartlepool, Redcar & Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Darlington, Durham, and Newcastle.

If the legal action is successful, it means residents in Hartlepool and neighbouring areas could ultimately bear the financial burden of the fallout from Hartlepool Borough Council's decision-making as well as being yet another reputational blunder for the local council which was slammed by a Judge just months ago following claims Hartlepool Borough Council was acting in contempt of court in legal proceedings brought by two local residents over fixed penalty notices issued against them. .

The competitive tender process was said to have been thrown into controversy when Green Recovery Projects was said to have been removed as a bidder for the TVERF contract, leaving only one company remaining contender—Viridor. Hartlepool Borough Council attempted to justify the disqualification by claiming the company’s loss of a key engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner, which they claimed was essential to deliver the project.

Despite being offered time to rectify the issue, Hartlepool Borough Council reportedly claimed that Green Recovery Projects Ltd "did not request an extension", and later confirmed through its legal representatives that it could not continue meaningfully in the procurement. Hartlepool Borough Council and the other local councils involved have maintained that the process remained 'lawful' and 'competitive', and say they intend to defend the claim vigorously.

Still, the ongoing legal challenge casts a shadow over the entire project, raising concerns about whether Hartlepool Borough Council acted properly in its management of a multi-million-pound public contract. If the High Court claim is upheld, taxpayers could be left footing the bill for errors made behind closed doors.

The procurement process itself has already reportedly faced delays due to grid connection uncertainties, with the project’s expected completion date now said to have been pushed back to 2029 at the earliest. Both Viridor and Green Recovery Projects had submitted final tenders by March 2023, with outline planning permission in place. But after the pause, its claimed only Viridor is now submitting an optimised final offer.

Despite the lack of competition at this stage, Hartlepool Borough Council insists the original two-bid process allowed sufficient benchmarking for final contract decisions. Yet, the fairness and transparency of the procurement process is now said to be under increased scrutiny.

Green Recovery Projects Limited, the company behind the legal action, was set up specifically to bid for the TVERF project. It is linked to FCC Environment UK Ltd, a major player in the waste management sector with several existing energy-from-waste contracts.

As the legal case unfolds, the potential financial risk to Hartlepool Borough Council & local tax payers— reportedly remains significant. What was intended as a project to deliver long-term savings and environmental benefits may now become both a costly legal and political liability, as well as raising questions over how Hartlepool Borough Council manages procurement contracts...