IESE, which is the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership responsible for waste, said the framework agreement had been set up to “give local authorities a simple solution to providing home composting units, accessories and related communications without having to go out to tender”.
Plans for the scheme were originally announced last year (see letsrecycle.com story) and it will replace the WRAP framework which was stopped in September 2009 due to budget cuts. 
Natalie Ibbott, project coordinator at the Waste Improvement Network, which is run by the IESE, explained that bin supplier Straight had won the contract to provide bins to councils that joined the framework.
Straight had previously provided bins under the WRAP scheme and was also supplying bins to councils whilst no framework agreement was in place.
Jonathan Straight, chief executive of Straight, explained that the company was offering a service which would allow councils to buy bins in bulk or allow them to set up a service to allow residents to order bins individually.
He adds: “We can either bulk supply or set up a retail campaign allowing residents to place orders. This is something we can set up on the website.”
Mr Straight claimed that the framework agreement was likely to benefit councils because it prevented them having to go through a full tender process for their bins – saving time and resources. He said that the tender process could be quite “onerous” because it was time consuming for councils to wait for different companies to come back to them with quotes and offers. Local authorities only had to sign up to the framework scheme and not wait for responses to their tenders.
The IESE added in a statement: “Purchasing through the framework means that councils do not have to undertake their own tender process, saving time, money and benefiting significantly from economies of scale.”
Solution
Straight said it would be providing a “complete solution” which includes supply, delivery and communications material such as leaflets which can be tailored to include information and logos specific to individual councils' needs. Additional publicity materials can be bought in if required.
Straight has the contract for three years with the option of an extra year. Under Straight, prices for a Compost Converter, which Mr Straight said was the “mainstay of the WRAP scheme”, will be
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