Biffas successful tender saw the firm compete against six other bidders during a hard-fought 14 month procurement process.
The 10-year deal will see the firm replace SITA UK as the local authority’s waste contractor from November 2014, while more than 100 employees will be transferred from SITA to Biffa under TUPE regulations.
Under its current contract with SITA UK, Epping Forest operates alternate weekly collections for recycling and residual waste. A blue box is provided for mixed glass recycling while and a clear sack is used for plastics, cans, cardboard and paper.
Commingling
Biffa intends to retain this twin stream commingling system, while collections will continue to be carried out every fortnight. Materials will be sent to Biffas advanced materials recycling facility (MRF) at Edmonton in north London.
Meanwhile, residual waste will initially be disposed of at a landfill site near Chelmsford while Essex county council continues construction work on a mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) plant in Basildon which is being developed by Urbaser Balfour Beatty.
“Epping Forest has long been a key development target for Biffa for a number of reasons. These primarily are the councils desire to push the boundaries of recycling, and Biffa’s local property and facilities that will enable us to provide a great value-for-money service. I am confident this will be a long and fruitful partnership,” said Pete Dickson, Biffa municipal division development director.
Free weekly collections of mixed food and garden waste which were first launched in Epping Forest in 2009 will also continue under the Biffa contract and willbe delivered to a waste transfer station near Ongar and treated at an IVC facility in Bedfordshire.
However, the mixed organic waste will be sent to Essex county council’s transfer station at Harlow for onward transport to a reprocessor from 2016.
Contract
The contract win brings the total number of local authorities serviced by Biffa to 42, and follows decisions by nine councils earlier this year to extend or roll over their contracts with the company worth an estimated £190 million (see letsrecycle.com story).
Councillor Will Breare-Hall, Epping Forest district council’s portfolio holder for environment, said: “This deal is great news for Epping Forest residents and our district. Our new contract with Biffa promises residents an innovative, improved and more responsive service that respects what they like best about our current provision, and helps us keep their council tax low.”
Cllr Breare-Hall continued: “It is essential we keep striving to improve. This new partnership with Biffa offers even better services to residents, reductions in environmental impact, and helps us to maintain our record as one of the UKs top recycling authorities.”
In 2012/13, Epping Forest was named one of the best performing councils for recycling in England, with an overall dry recycling, composting and reuse rate of 58.80%.
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