Norwich issues reassurance over recycling service

Norwich city council has insisted there will be no interruption to its household waste and recycling collection service, despite the financial difficulties being faced by its contractor Connaught that today (September 7) saw it suspend trading in its shares on London's Stock Exchange.

The council said it had put contingency plans in place to continue running key operations including waste collections as usual if, as has been speculated, the services company entered administration – but said it would only reveal details of the arrangements if and when they were needed.

And, Verdant, the company which was sub-contracted by Connaught to begin running the waste and recycling collections on the ground in April 2010, under a seven-year deal worth £20 million (see letsrecycle.com story), said that it was aware of the situation, and revealed it was in discussions with the council about the future of the service.

Connaught's announcement that it had suspending trading in its shares came as the company revealed it was “increasingly uncertain” whether it would be able to source the money needed to provide an “adequate” solution to its funding issues.

This prompted increased national media reports that it could be about to enter administration, and, in a statement this afternoon, Norwich city council stressed that, until any further announcement was made by the company, it was trading as normal and key services were still being delivered.

The leader of the council, councillor Steve Morphew, claimed that these services would continue to be operated, regardless of what happened to Connaught, explaining that: “Our priority is to make sure our residents are not affected and continue to receive the services they rely on us to provide.

“We are one of 150 councils and housing associations around the country for which Connaught provides services. This is clearly not where we want to be, but we are well prepared should it go into administration.”

Verdant

In a separate statement, sub-contractor Verdant said: “Verdant is aware of speculation that Connaught may be going into administration. Verdant is continuing to deliver its service for Norwich residents and is in discussions with the council about the future of the service.”

The arrangement between Verdant and Connaught represents the first time either company has entered into this kind of strategic partnership, and when it was signed Verdant – which is now in the process of merging with Biffa as part of parent company Greenstar UK – said it planned to deliver a number of changes to Norwich's collection services.

These included introducing kerbside food waste collections and providing more flats recycling, in a bid to increase the city's household waste recycling rate to well above 50%.

Under the current service, householders in Norwich receive alternate weekly collections at the kerbside, with residual waste collections one week and recycling collections the next. The recycling collections involve glass being collected in a green box and other materials – including paper, card, cans, aerosols and plastic bottles – collected commingled in a blue wheeled bin.

The city also offers a paid-for garden waste service, offering collections of the waste stream in a brown wheeled bin 25 times a year.