One of the largest single local authority contracts ever awarded in London, the contract will run for seven years from September 2003. Onyx had already been running Westminster’s waste collection and street cleaning service, but the new deal will be worth at least £32m a year – an annual 13m increase on the contract it replaces.
Westminster decided to retain Onyx’s services after an eight-month consideration of all the proposals made to them.
Commenting on the deal, Westminster’s cabinet member for street environment, Judith Warner, said: “This contract is a key element of our civic renewal campaign to regenerate the city, and demonstrates our commitment to delivering clean streets. I am confident that, in partnership with the city council, Onyx will rise to this big challenge.”
Recycling
The contract is mainly for domestic waste, but will include some commercial collections. Waste will be going to transfer stations in the area, not necessarily Onyx-owned, and some material may also go to Onyx’s domestic waste facility in Brent.
The company has said its primary objective will be to increase the level of recycling and recovery in Westminster. Onyx believes this is the only way to meet UK landfill cuts, and has said that the unusual situation at Westminster – with large numbers of tourists on hand – will require a specifically tailored service.
Michel Gourvennec, chief executive of Onyx said: “Westminster is a very unique contract for its size, the 24-hour service and the magnitude of visitors; all which have allowed Onyx to provide a proactive service everyday and for special events. Onyx is proud to be working in partnership with such a prestigious Council and looks forward to delivering a tailored service for the residents of Westminster.”
The new deal will involve new recycling services, street cleaning machines and systems that will enable the Council to know immediately whether services are delivered on time. Around 720 people will be employed on waste collection and recycling services in the new contract – up from £607 on the current contract – using a fleet of 233 vehicles.
Facilities
“We will put greater efforts into boosting residents’ participation in recycling,” Councillor Warner declared. “There will be new facilities to make it easier to recycle but, of course, people must use them. Reduce, reuse and recycle are the watchwords.”
New features will include a door to door collection of paper and glass, street sweepers that will pick up paper for recycling and more paper recycling bins on the street. There will also be an increase in green waste recycling.
Westminster city also awarded a recycling contract to Cory Environmental in October. That contract is estimated to be worth around £40 million and will run for 14 years handling around 5,000 tonnes of waste a month (see letsrecycle.com story).
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