Leicestershire county council put the contract to process the county’s dry recyclables out to tender following the Cabinet’s decision to pass its ‘Dry Recycling Credit Saving Strategy’, which sought ways to reduce the county council’s expenditure on recycling credits.
The new contract will commence on 1 April 2018 and has been awarded for a minimum of four years, with the option to extend up to 10 years.
Casepak already has existing contracts in place with several Leicestershire waste collection authorities, which will continue to be covered under the terms of the new contract.
The company currently processes a combined 38,000 tonnes per annum of recyclable materials from Blaby district council, Charnwood borough council and Harborough district council at its materials recycling facility (MRF).
Casepak also manages an additional 6,000 tonnes per annum from recycling and household waste sites in Leicestershire at its collections and processing facility in Enderby.
According to Casepak, the new contract could also see the company potentially gain an extra 20,000 tonnes per annum of dry recyclables from Hinckley and Bosworth borough council, Melton borough council, and Oadby and Wigston borough council.
Dry stream
The dry recycling stream includes paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal and aluminium cans and drinks cartons. One collected, these items will be sent to Casepak’s £21 million state-of-the-art MRF in Braunstone Frith, Leicester. The material is then sorted, graded and processed using the latest recycling technology.
Commenting on the contract, councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for waste at Leicestershire county council said: “Following a competitive tendering process, we are happy to be able to work with Casepak in our attempts to encourage residents to recycle their waste.
“Awarding this contract will not just help us towards our goal to save more than £1 million a year, but it supports the local economy and recycling services.”
Georgina Cullen, Casepak’s business development director, added: “As a Leicester-based company we are delighted to have been awarded this substantial contract to process the county’s dry mixed recyclables.
“We look forward to partnering with Leicestershire County Council over the next few years and helping to increase recycling rates across the county.”
According to Casepak, its MRF has the capacity to process up to 150,000 tonnes of material each year, recovering 95% of the material processed.
