Suez will continue to collect waste and recyclables on behalf of the West Yorkshire-based authority until 2024, while Associated Waste Management (AWM) will process the council’s non-recyclables into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for a further nine years.
Commenting on the contracts, the council’s cabinet member for Regeneration and Economic Development, councillor Barry Collins, said it was ‘vital’ to provide a service that was efficient and cost effective.
He said: “The council has to make massive savings over the next few years; these contracts will not only offer an improved service and greater efficiency, but also bring down cost and exceed the saving expectations for the waste service.”
Suez was originally awarded the Calderdale recycling contract in 2008, which at the time comprised of a single black bag collection.
Fortnightly refuse rounds and weekly recycling collections were introduced during the first year of the deal, with a kerbside sort system provided for cans, glass, paper, plastic bottles, textiles and food waste. The council is expected to achieve a household recycling rate of 60% in 2014/15.
Under the new contract, from August 2016 residents will see collections expand to include a wider range of recyclable material, plus ‘improvements’ to the local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across the borough.
These include collections of plastic pots, tubs, trays, cardboard, batteries and small electrical items. Calderdale will also introduce a chargeable garden waste collection service.
‘Delighted’
Nick Browning, Suez general manager of municipal operations, said: “We are delighted to have retained responsibility for the delivery of waste and recycling collection services to the residents of Calderdale.
“This is an enduring partnership that has delivered long-term environmental benefits and we now look forward to working with the Council in the coming years to introduce further improvements to the high level of service that people have come to expect.”
The council’s waste disposal contract will meanwhile continue to be provided by AWM. Based in Bradford and Leeds, the firm receives an estimated 500,000 tonnes of mixed waste to treat and process into RDF per year.
Once ACM has screened the material at its MRF in Morley, Leeds, it sends the RDF on to be used as feedstock at Ferrybridge Multifuel facility in West Yorkshire, which has capacity to treat around 570,000 tonnes of waste per year, including RDF from Rotherham, Cumbria and Wakefield councils (see letsrecycle.com story).
AWM’s business development director, Tim Shapcott, added: “We are delighted to have been awarded this contract, which represents one of the largest the business has won. We have previously worked with Calderdale council, helping to manage their landfill diversion rates from 41% in 2010 to more than 60% in 2015.
“Our aim is to further improve this and to reach 100% through improved recycling, investment in technology and the full utilisation of our partnership with the newly commissioned Ferrybridge Multifuel incinerator.”
Bradford EfW
The decision to retain the AWM contract follows the collapse of the council’s joint energy-from-waste project with Bradford metropolitan district council– after Defra withdrew £62.1 million in funding for the proposed Bowling Back Lane incinerator in early 2013.
The facility would have treated 193,000 tonnes of waste per year and was due to be operational by 2016. A consortium consisting of FCC Environment and Skanska had previously been selected as preferred bidders to run the plant.
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