In the final tender process, Veolia looks to have pipped Amey and Serco for the work in the north London borough, although Serco has been chosen as the reserve bidder. The contract would run initially to 2025 with an option to extend for a further eight years.
Camden council told letsrecycle.com: “Following an eight-month procurement process Veolia are selected as the preferred bidder and Serco as the reserved bidder.
“Camden council’s cabinet will be recommended to award the contract to the approved bidder for the new environmental services contract on Wednesday, July 20.”
Due to begin in April 2017, the renewed Environmental Services contract covers collections of household recycling, food waste, garden waste and residual waste, as well as commercial waste, street cleaning and gritting.
Savings
In December 2014 the council agreed a £73 million savings programme – which requires £3 million per year to be saved within its collections and street cleaning contract.
The borough’s current arrangement with Veolia, which began in 2003 and was set to expire in 2017, is valued at £23 million per year. In 2010 the contract was renewed on the condition the company introduced new measures to boost recycling – which saw it roll out separate collections for paper and card and introduce mixed plastics to the kerbside.
In order to find the £3 million yearly savings, as well as investigating a potential additional £2 million in savings per year, Camden council is to “change the way the contract works,” taking advantage of “new technology and working hard with residents and businesses to reduce littering and increase recycling”.
Policy
In June 2015, the cabinet approved a number of policy options to help bidders meet the council’s desired outcomes.
These include the provision of wheeled bins for residual waste and banning of side waste, weekly dry recycling and food waste collections, fortnightly residual waste collections introduction of as charged-for, seasonal garden waste service, and incentive schemes.
The policy options also includes reduction of collections from estate-based properties, where possible, with more frequent collections to be carried out at a cost to the Housing Revenue Account.
Explaining its position in an online FAQ report to residents, the council states: “A study of Camden’s ‘Waste in 2014’ found that at least 70% of the contents of an average Camden rubbish bin are recyclable. This includes a high proportion of organic (food) waste that is collected weekly from households across the borough.”
Camden is the latest in a number of London borough contracts for which Veolia has achieved preferred bidder status. In May, the business was named recommended bidder for South London Waste Partnership’s eight-year collections contract across the boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton (see letsrecycle.com story).
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