The BT contract was awarded by Monteray, the company which oversees the collection of general waste from BT sites, and Greenstar said it now planned to work closely with the facilities management firm to help BT to “significantly” increase its recycling rate.
Last year, BT recycled 35,929 tonnes of waste in the UK, half of its total waste, while also reducing the amount it sent to landfill by 17% compared to in 2008.
Under the contract, which was signed for an undisclosed sum and began last week (April 1) Greenstar plans to run waste audits to identify opportunities to boost the recycling rate further, with the aim of having the deal up and running within three months.
Targets
More and more blue chip companies, and their facilities service providers such as Monteray, are turning to Greenstar
Ian Wakelin, Greenstar UK
Reviews will be run looking at the waste streams and current collection and recycling processes at BT's most-populated sites and a spokesman for Greenstar said that, while there were not currently tonnage targets in place for the deal, “once they understand more clearly what is coming out there probably will be some kind of target-setting”.
Greenstar said that it would recommend the recycling be collected commingled before being sent to its materials recycling facilities, claiming this would make recycling “easier and more convenient” for BT staff.
The significance of the contract was highlighted by Greenstar UK's chief executive, Ian Wakelin, who said it was “proof again that Greenstar's business model was solid and sustainable”.
He added: “More and more blue chip companies, and their facilities service providers such as Monteray, are turning to Greenstar because we deliver clear environmental and business benefits. We have hundreds of professional people eager to help BT build on its excellent reputation.”
Thurrock
Meanwhile, in Essex, Verdant, which is Greenstar's local authority contracting arm, becomes the latest company to be awarded a contract by Thurrock council as part of the unitary authority's procurement of a whole range and waste and recycling deals.
Following last month's announcement by Waste Recycling Group that it had won the council's residual waste treatment contract (see letsrecycle.com story), the deal awarded to Verdant will involve it dealing with an estimated 8,000 tonnes of commingled food and garden waste collected at the kerbside by the council every year.
The food and garden waste will be tipped at the Ahern transfer station, in West Thurrock where it will be bulked and then transported to Countrystyle Group's in-vessel composting facility at Ridham Dock, near Sittingbourne in Kent.
Greenstar explained that it was using the facility while it developed its own dry anaerobic digestion plant within the borough in Tilbury, in partnership with infrastructure specialist AWG. It expects the plant to be up and running by the end of 2011.
Energy
Jim Perkins, interim waste operations manager at Thurrock council, said the company has been chosen because of a number of reasons, and in particular, the fact that its approach would generate energy.
Mr Wakelin claimed winning the deal represented the culmination of months of planning for Greenstar's energy-from-waste division, and said that organics processing and EfW presented “significant opportunities” for the company.
He added: “Our current business model, which covers both municipal and commercial collections and processing, is an ideal base on which to build our EfW interests, and I'm thrilled that Verdant is taking our first steps in this direction.”
The contract successes come against the backdrop of continued media speculation over the potential sale of Greenstar UK's by its Irish parent company, National Toll Roads plc (NTR).
Last month, NTR confirmed it was considering selling the business as one of a number of strategic options (see letsrecycle.com story), and reports in the Irish media have suggested bids have been lodged by a number of major UK and Irish waste management and infrastructure firms.
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