Milton Keynes council is poised to offer services firm Serco a four year extension to its waste and recycling collections contract, which is designed to save the authority up to 170,000 per year.
This comes alongside an ambitious plan to fuel some of the boroughs waste collection vehicles using compressed biomethane produced from the treatment of food and green waste from anaerobic digestion. If introduced, it is thought that the scheme would be the first of its kind in the UK.
The council has identified that it needs to save around 300,000 from its 2014/15 waste services budget, with around 130,000 to be saved through the biomethane fuelling scheme, and an additional 170,000 to be secured through renegotiating the terms of its deal with Serco.
Serco has carried out waste collection and street cleansing services on behalf of the Buckinghamshire authority since 2009, having taken over from previous contractor Cory Environmental.
The initial 10-year contract was worth up to 80 million when first awarded to the Hampshire-based firm, and Milton Keynes is now considering a four-year extension to the deal, taking it to 2023, which would also factor in savings for the local authority.
Efficiency
Changes to the contract being discussed by the council and Serco include improving the efficiency of its collection fleet, with all of its vehicles operating on a one pass system cutting down on vehicle hours.
Proposals have also been drawn up for a waste collection guarantee which would see funds donated to the Mayors annual charity by the contractor if certain service agreements are not met.
Serco is also to be given responsibility for increasing recycling rates by implementing a new education programme, as well as introducing new textiles and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) bring banks across the borough.
A report has been submitted to the councils cabinet, recommending that the contract with Serco be extended, ahead of a meeting on Wednesday (April 16), when councillors will decide whether or not to go ahead with the revised deal.
In the report, council officers noted: The collections and cleansing contract with Serco has proven on of the most successful contracts to date. Recycling rates are high, having improved significantly since the start of the contract and customer satisfaction remains high. Refuse and recycling collections continue to have the highest level of satisfaction of all council services.
Biomethane
Meanwhile, the plan to use biomethane-fuelled vehicles on Milton Keynes collection routes is expected to save around 130,000 per year in fuel costs with investment in the necessary upgrades to vehicles to come from the 1.7 million grant awarded to the council under the Department for Communities and Local Governments weekly waste collection fund (see letsrecycle.com story).
Currently all of the food and garden waste collected from the green bins is taken an anaerobic digestion plant in Cambridgeshire, but the council has awarded a contract to waste treatment firm AmeyCespa to design, build and operate a waste facility including anaerobic digestion within its own boundaries (see letsrecycle.com story).
Biomethane from the plant will be used to fuel 13 food and garden waste collection vehicles currently in operation in Milton Keynes.
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