Somerset signs recycling and waste deal with ECT

The contract to service all 228,000 Somerset homes runs for seven years, with the option of two further extensions of up to seven years.

The signing of the new contract, which takes over from 10 contracts for individual collections within the Somerset districts and boroughs, comes just days after all six Somerset local authorities sealed their new waste partnership (see letsrecycle.com story).

The new partnership has an annual budget of around £12.7 million expenditure, including around £3.55m on kerbside recycling collections and £2.31 million on refuse collection.

The London-based social enterprise company is to aim for record recycling rates with the intention of adding cardboard and plastic bottles to the “SORT IT!” kerbside collection scheme in the near future.

The message to the public is that services will carry on as normal.

Recycling

Somerset is already one of the top performing county councils in the country when it comes to recycling, with an overall recycling rate of 47%. In 2006/07 the county recycled 129,957 tonnes of household waste and landfilled 144,932 tonnes.

As well as investigating options to add more materials to the kerbside, the new ECT contract will look at harmonising the various weekly and fortnightly recycling and waste collections throughout Somerset in order to provide a better service to the public.

Steve Read, managing director of the Somerset Waste Partnership said: “This is an important step towards our aim of recycling over 50% of our household waste, and we are all delighted to be working with ECT, who have an excellent track record on recycling and waste management.

“The new contract provides excellent value for money, with a projected saving of £1.7 million, and includes running trials next spring to add cardboard and plastic bottles to the kerbside, which will be another great boost to recycling in Somerset,” Mr Read added.

ECT

Andy Bond, managing director of ECT Recycling said the collection system being used in Somerset – with fortnightly refuse collections, a charged garden waste service and where householders separate out materials like paper, glass and cans in their recycling boxes while food waste is collected separately – was the “best approach” to waste management.

He said: “Somerset has one of the highest recycling rates in the UK but more importantly one of the lowest amounts of residual waste. By collecting food waste separately, people become more aware of the amount they are throwing out and start to minimise their waste themselves. We're delighted to be part of this partnership.”

The Somerset Waste Partnership includes Mendip, South Somerset, Sedgemoor and West Somerset district councils, Taunton Deane borough council and Somerset county council.