The council awarded the contract to Cleanaway after a competitive tendering process and Cleanaway will take over the management of the household waste recycling centre from SITA on July 1.
The contract has been designed to increase recycling in the borough and enable the council to meet the waste strategy targets. It has been split into two periods so that a basic contract will be run for the first two years. In this time the council and Cleanaway will decide how the contract could best be managed over the next 21 years. It is hoped that a separate company will be formed between Cleanaway and the council to deal with the borough's waste between 2003 and 2024.
As part of the contract, Cleanaway will improve recycling at the site and this could include the building of a new materials recovery facility. Cleanaway will also carry out an education programme in the local community.
Greenwich council currently sends 100,000 tonnes of waste to Selchp each year and the contract includes provision for waste substitution so that some of Cleanaway's waste can be used instead. This will help the council to meet its waste strategy targets.
James Perkins, recycling officer for Greenwich council, said: “With a 25-year contract you can expect companies to invest in the local area which you can't do with a five year one. As part of the contract, Cleanaway will go into schools and educate the local community about recycling.”
He added: “As an individual council we deal with around 100,000 tonnes of paper a year but by working with Cleanaway our waste will form part of a larger amount and we will benefit from the economies of scale of being tied into a large company. We have picked a partner that can deal with any new recycling targets that could come in.”
It is likely that Cleanaway will integrate this contract with its existing work including the London Remade composting project which is based at its Havering plant in east London.
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