Since the start of last week (December 1), the UK's largest waste management company has been handling the material alongside running a number of environmental initiatives with ASDA.
Price and collection arrangements were thought to be key to Veolia winning the contract, which was formerly held by Birmingham-based packaging reprocessor Smurfit Kappa which collected some of material itself and sub-contracted some of the work to other businesses.
While details of the price being paid for the material have not being disclosed, waste paper industry experts have commented that the contract agreement was likely to have been made before the fall in material prices and have remarked on how flexible the contract would have to be to accommodate this.
Veolia already handles residual waste on behalf of ASDA under a contract signed earlier this year as well as providing packaging compliance services to the retail giant. ASDA's plastics are collected and reprocessed by Leicestershire-based J&A Young, while its food waste is being treated under a number of pilot projects with different firms.
Today, Veolia also announced that it had already helped ASDA to divert 99% of waste away from landfill at stores in Horwich and Bootle through a series of “strategic process changes” as part of the retailer's commitment to divert zero waste to landfill (see letsrecycle.com story) – a service which could be rolled out across all ASDA's UK stores and depots over the next 18 months.
Shane Monkman, packaging buyer for ASDA, said: “As the UK's second largest retailer, serving more than 17 million customers annually and operating in more than 350 stores nationwide, we have a massive responsibility to reduce our impact on the environment.
“Over the last 10 years we've developed a successful working relationship with Veolia as part of our waste strategy, and we look forward to this continuing.
“With their strong understanding of the business and their appreciation for the complex global environment in which we operate, there's no doubt that Veolia will add tremendous value in helping us to recycle even more of the UK's cardboard market,” he added.
Commenting on the economic situation, Mr Monkman acknowledged the “huge oversupply” of card on the market at present and said: “Finding a partner that manager to deliver value was really tough.”
However, Mr Monkman said that this had been achieved in the deal with Veolia, explaining: “We have been flexible in the arrangement to cope with differences in the market so there is protection on both sides.”
David Lusher, commercial services director for Veolia Environmental Services, said: “Achieving these contract milestones provides a great example of how huge progress can be made when partners work together to meet and improve on their already challenging targets.
“As global players in our industry, both ASDA and Veolia Environmental Services have been capable of leveraging expertise and know-how from a wide body of knowledge. This differentiation can be vital in achieving results, especially in these difficult market conditions,” he added.
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