FCC wins East Lothian collections contract  

The contract, which began on the 1 May and will run for an 8 year period until March 2029, was previously held by Biffa.

Under the contract, FCC Environment will collect recycling and food waste from 54,000 properties, and deliver the material to the council’s waste transfer facility Kinwegar, Wallyford.

Food waste will then be taken to the Earnside Energy anaerobic digestion (AD) and In-Vessel Composting (IVC) facility in Chroley, while recycling will be sent for processing at a materials recycling facility (MRF) in Grangemouth.

The council, which recorded a 55.3% recycling rate in 2019/20,  provides a weekly food waste collection service, and a fortnightly dry mixed recycling service.

‘Great pleasure’

Steve Longdon, operations director at FCC Environment, said: “The last 14 months have been hard for everyone but as key workers we had to carry on, proving the resilience of our waste collection crews.

“So, it is with great pleasure that we bring this resilience to East Lothian Council, supporting them through some significant changes to their recycling and food waste collections to improve recycling performance yet further. A key part of this is the fleet of all new recycling vehicles that we will be rolling out which will revolutionise how these valuable resources are collected.”

Delay

East Lothian’s procurement of the new contract was previously delayed in February 2020, in order to examine the impact of Scotland’s planned deposit return scheme (DRS).

Following the delay, the council extended its contract with Biffa for a further six months in October 2020 at a value of £750,000, which ended in April this year.

‘Big improvements’

Tom Reid, head of infrastructure for East Lothian council, added: “With the population expected to grow significantly over the length of the eight year contract, FCC Environment will have a clear focus on driving up recycling rates and improving material quality in line with the Scottish Government’s Household Recycling Charter.”

“FCC Environment will have a clear focus on driving up recycling rates and improving material quality”

Tom Reid, FCC

He continued: “I am delighted to be working with FCC Environment. Big improvements are coming to our recycling services over the next few years as our population grows. FCC Environment will bring a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise to our services – we look forward to working together to continue to improve recycling for our residents.”