Croydon signs up Cleanaway for seven-year waste contract

Starting in August, contract will also cover the collection of clinical waste, the removal of flytipped waste and the provision of a fridge/freezer collection service.

Croydon’s current recycling rate is 14%, but the council hopes the new contract will lead to a significant increase with the extension of the borough's kerbside recycling collections.

The service currently collects about 3,500 tonnes a year of paper, cans, glass and textiles from 33,000 households, but the council is intending to roll the service out across the borough, to around 100,000 households.

Council spokesman Richard Gibbs said that although there were no plans for new recycling initiatives, there are some potential developments the council would like to be involved in. He explained that the council is concentrating on a smooth changeover between contractors and looking for a highly visible improvement in its waste management.

The estimated annual cost of the new services to be initiated by Cleanaway is 5million, but the total worth of the deal will be around 12 million a year, the council told letsrecycle.com.

The current contractor, MRS, also submitted a bid for the contract but lost out to Cleanaway. The council said it expects current MRS staff to be transferred to the Cleanaway operation, which will also take on new staff to fulfil “intensive street cleaning standards”.

Commenting on the deal, Croydon cabinet member for highways, transportation and public services Gerry Ryan said: “The investment that’s going into this new contract means that Cleanaway will be able to afford to employ the right number of staff to do a thorough job. From this summer residents can look forward to getting a much better service – and all for the cost of around 9 a week for the typical household.”

Cleanaway's Mike Boult said the company was “delighted to have secured the contract with one of the major London boroughs”.

Although there are currently no firm plans for new recycling initiatives, Mr Boult said: “The plan is to role out the existing kerbside scheme – which currently covers only a third of the households – to cover the whole borough.” He said that Cleanaway will help Croydon council increase its recycling rate towards government targets, and that there are some plans to be discussed with the council of a green waste service.