Focsa lands West Devon recycling collection deal

The deal, which was announced yesterday (February 24), is set to commence on April 1 2010 and has the option to be extended to 14 years.

Focsa had held the waste and recycling collection aspect of the contract since 2001, although the additional cleansing elements had not been under its remit. Under the new contract, Focsa will also take over servicing of the council's 22 recycling banks, street cleansing and cleaning of public lavatories.

Councillor Robert Sampson, chairman of the environment and community committee at the council, said “We are delighted at the outcome of this tender process and welcome Focsa Services as a partner for the next seven years.

“For all West Devon residents it will mean a more efficient, high-quality service throughout the borough giving Council Tax payers great value for money as the price of the new contract is extremely competitive and will be of major assistance in our future annual revenue budget challenges.”

The council declined to divulge how much the contract was worth, although it was estimated to be worth between £10.5 million and £21 million when the council advertised for tenders in the Official Journal of the European Union in January 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Currently West Devon recycles around 43% of household waste. This is expected to increase quickly to 54% once the new system is fully operational.

Contract

The contracts, which together make one of the largest ever awarded by the council, are set to include extended kerbside recycling collections, which will include plastic bottles, and the extension of the food and garden waste recycling service to all suitable households in the borough.

In addition, the council also intends to introduce an alternate weekly collection of residual waste coupled with a weekly collection of recycling and food waste.

West Devon had contemplated using the contract as a means of introducing wheeled bin collections for residual waste but the decision was made to retain collection sacks.

The council did state at a meeting on December 1 2009 that it would look to introduce wheeled bins to around 80% of West Devon households at some point in the future, with the provision predicted to cost around £400,000.

West Devon currently sends its residual waste to Viridor's landfill site at Heathfield, in South Devon, while recyclables are currently collected source-separated, and then bulked up at the council's recycling centre near Tavistock, from where they are marketed directly to reprocessors.