The contract starts on April 2 and by June ECT will have extended the service to 66,000 homes – three quarters of the borough – compared to 44,000 homes which have been served by the DSO.
Lorraine Skinner, waste policy and recycling manager for the council, said the decision to turn kerbside collection into a specialist contract was made because the DSO “wasn’t very pro-active” towards the work.
“Their focus is waste collection,” she added. “The service was originally part of the collection contract, but over the last few years the service has developed and grown. As a result we wanted to seek competition in support of best value.”
Andy Bond, managing director of ECT Recycling, formerly known as Ealing Community Transport, said: “The council felt the service wasn’t as good as it could be. They were right to think that.”
Residents will be able to put glass bottles, cans, paper, aluminium foil, textiles and shoes into a recycling box which is collected every two weeks. The financial details of the contract have not been disclosed although any profits from the sale of recyclate will be split between ECT and the council.
The West-London based not-for-profit company expects to collect 4,700 tonnes of material in the first year, rising to 6,000 tonnes in the second year. The scheme is expected to eventually cover residents living in flats, although a timescale has not been released.
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