Newport Paper wins Castle Point commingled contract

The deal will provide the company, based in Shropshire, with between 6,000 and 7,000 tonnes a year of recyclable materials, to be processed at its 50,000 tonne capacity materials recycling facility (MRF), which opened near Thetford, Norfolk, in September 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Once the materials have  been processed by the MRF, newspapers will then be sent to Stora Enso's Langerbrugge Mill in Gent, Belgium, as part of an existing contract, while contracts for other recyclables will be negotiated with reprocessors according to market conditions.

The paper will be collected alongside plastic bottle, cans and cardboard as part of a new pink sack system which will be introduced by the Essex council on October 20.

Tender

The contract was won by Newport Paper after its bid scored maximum points in the tender process, offering the full range of services required by Castle Point at the most competitive price.

The council's director of environment, Ian Burchill, said: “We were really impressed with the tender submitted by Newport Paper. The aims of the service are to provide a high standard of recycling service, both regular and punctual with low unit costs when compared with others and within the upper 25 percentile of best performing authorities and striving to achieve continuous improvement.

“Newport Paper could provide exactly what Castle Point borough council wanted at the most competitive price, while providing a service that is also least damaging to the environment,” he added.

The company's regional manager, Esther Kirby, explained that the deal would build on its existing presence in Essex.

“We're delighted by the news of this new contract. In addition to the contracts we have with Basildon and Brentwood, we are able to provide a highly efficient service to councils in that region,” she said.

Newport Paper is one of a number of paper merchants to have begun a move into sorting commingled recyclables, with Kent-based paper recycling firm SCA Recycling revealing plans in June 2008 for a £15 million MRF outside Southampton (see letsrecycle.com story).