The contract will commence in February 2020 when the council’s current deal with Biffa expires. It will run until 2028 with the option for a further eight-year extension.
Central Bedfordshire’s new contract will cover the collection of dry recyclable, residual, garden and food waste from households and the provision of services including bulky and clinical waste collection, as well as street cleansing.
Mid-Bedfordshire district council and South Bedfordshire district council merged in 2009 to become Central Bedfordshire council. Both councils had held collection contracts with Biffa which came to an end in March 2019 but were extended to run for an additional year.
Currently, the two parts of the district have slightly differing collection systems, with glass collected as part of the dry recycling collection service in all areas except for Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable & Houghton Regis.
The new collection deal with FCC will cover the entire region. According to the authority, the current collections and disposal of waste from 118,000 homes costs around £14 million per year. It was said that the new proposals could save over £2 million each year.
Consultation
Award of the contract follows a public consultation launched by the council in March 2018 on potential changes to its service ahead of the new deal.
This lead to a commitment for a weekly food waste collection, “exploring options” for the introduction of a separate collection for glass and also a committment to maintain the current alternate weekly collection system, having looked at a move to a three-weekly service for residual waste.
Commenting on the new contract, Councillor Ian Dalgarno, executive member for community services at Central Bedfordshire council, said: “Following a highly competitive process we have appointed FCC Environment to deliver our waste collection and street cleaning services for up to eight years with a potential eight-year extension.
“We are looking forward to working with them and are currently in the process of managing the transition to the new contract which will commence in February 2020. We are confident that the new contract will improve efficiency and deliver value for money whilst also giving us the opportunity to introduce new recycling services to our residents.”
FCC Environment was contacted by letsrecycle.com for comment.
[Updated 23/08/2019: Story initially stated value of contract as £115 million and as ending in 2027]
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