The community-based enterprise, a joint venture between local group Bryson House and London-based ECT, has signed a 2 million, three-year contract with both Banbridge and Armagh district councils. The contract also has two possibilities for two-year extensions if it goes well.
The contract will see an expansion of an existing demonstration contract run by Bryson House since April 2003, covering 20,000 homes. From Spring 2005, the contract will add a further 15,000 households to the 55,000 already served by Bryson House Recycling in six local authority areas Northern Ireland.
Under Northern Ireland's Waste Plan, all 26 councils are to improve the current 9% household waste recycling rate to 25% by 2005/06 and 40% by 2010.
The new weekly doorstep services in Banbridge and Armagh will pick up paper, glass, cans, textiles and foil from residents in the two districts, and Bryson House Recycling said it expects to be able to recycle up to 40% of waste from those households if they use the service fully.
Commitment
Commenting on the contract, Bryson House Recycling's director of recycling, Eric Randall, said: “This investment demonstrates how much commitment there is towards improving the environment. We want to capitalise upon this commitment and that means ensuring that recycling doesn’t feel like a chore. That’s why we aim to provide a recycling service that is reliable, regular and, above all, easy-to-use.”
Mr Randall said he was pleased the councils had chosen to award the contract to a community organisation, saying that customers deserve good services but that “they also need to know that the operators are acting in the best interests of them, the environment and society as a whole.”
Performance on the contract will be measured on the number of collections made and the tonnage of materials collected, while any profits from the sale of materials will be split between the two councils and Bryson House.
Cllr Eric Speers, Mayor of Armagh City and District Council, said: “Armagh is pleased to award this contract to Bryson House and is confident that they will deliver an efficient and effective service. This new contract means that every household in the council area will be able to recycle from home, giving residents yet another way in which they can help improve the environment.”
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