As part of the contract, the council will switch to alternate twin-stream collections this October following a “successful” trial which took place last autumn.
Details of the renewed deal, which is yet to be signed by both parties, were revealed at a council meeting last month.
The new contract can be extended by a further eight years and has been valued at £274 million over its full 16-year lifetime. This equates to around £17.1 million a year.
French-owned waste management company Veolia carried out waste collections in the borough since 1992 and most recently extended its deal in 2014 (see letsrecycle.com story). The contract was due to end on 31 March and the new deal begins the following day.
The contract also includes street cleansing collections and winter maintenance services.
Service
Brent council serves around 340,000 residents and recorded a 33.4% recycling rate in 2020/21. The council said this rose to 37.8% in 2021/22.
Brent says it has not introduced “a major change” to its waste service in more than a decade before it ran a consultation and trial on switching to twin-stream collections, which will see paper and card separated from other dry recyclables in a sealable sack and collected on alternate weeks (see letsrecycle.com story) .
Brent says the separation of paper and card from containers, and glass in particular, is the “most beneficial first step toward materials separation”. Brent hopes separating paper and card will reduce contamination, which will increase the amount of material recycled and consequently the income the council receives from those materials.
In a consultation it ran on the changes, “a significant majority (72%) of the online respondents” disagreed with the proposals, compared to 18% who agreed.
However, 68% of those who attended roadshows held by the council agreed and 44% of those with assisted collections backed the plans.
Trial
An eight-week trial involving 5,371 street level households across five existing rounds in Harlesden, Kenton, Queens Park, Stonebridge and Wembley was undertaken between 3 October and 25 November 2022.
“The results from the eight-week trial have been analysed and the trial is considered to have been a success,” the council said in a report which went before the January meeting.
A pre-trial load collected showed a contamination rate of 17.8%. A subsequent load collected during the fifth week of the trial on 4 November contained a reduced contamination rate of 16.8%.
On average, 29 bins per day were contaminated by the fourth fortnight of the trial, demonstrating a downward trend across the eight weeks. The average number of contaminated bins in the first fortnight was 75, by the second it was 57 and by the third 53.
In the report last month, the council added: “The alternate weekly twin-stream recycling service can be delivered within contract budget, with significant benefits to the climate emergency agenda and in accordance with the national resource and waste strategy that provides the future direction of related services.”
Veolia will continue to collect residual waste fortnightly and food waste weekly when Brent switches to the twin-stream service from October.
Responsibility for levels of contamination now sit firmly with the council
- Brent council
Quality
As part of the deal, it is expected that the Veolia education, outreach and communication team which works on the Brent contract will transfer to the council under TUPE on 1 April.
“This change gives the council direct responsibility for communication, education and outreach to help address our considerable waste, climate emergency and circular economy objectives,” the council said.
It added that the responsibility for the volume and quality of recyclate and levels of contamination would “now sit firmly with the council.” Veolia crews will continue to check for contamination during collections.
Fleet
The council has also approved the allocation of £21 million through prudential borrowing for its fleet. In its report, the council said it would be better to finance its own fleet than to do so through the contractor.
The loan will consist of £10.8m to finance the purchase of the fleet required for the first year of the contract and a further allocation of £10.2m for vehicle replacements over the course of the contract.
Climate
In a statement given to letsrecycle.com, Cllr Krupa Sheth, Brent’s cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate action, said: “The contract renewal will mean that the council can save money, continue to deliver the services that residents need the most, and improve recycling rates.
“Evidence from other councils show an increase in recycling rates when using the new collection method. This is just one small way of us helping to tackle climate change.”
She added: “I would like to thank the residents who filled out our consultation and to all of those who took part in the trial.
“This has given us vital information on how to enhance the recycling collection service. We look forward to continuing our work with Veolia to make Brent clean, green, and net zero.”
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