South Bedfordshire signs Verdant for alternate weekly scheme

Scheduled to begin on April 1 next year, the contract will see Verdant bringing in a new alternate week collection service for residual and recyclable waste for 52,000 homes.

” All the evidence in other authorities shows that introducing an alternate week collection service encourages people to recycle more. “
– Cllr Brian Spurr, South Beds DC
Existing green waste collection services, currently on a fortnightly cycle, will remain, as will weekly residual waste collections from multi-occupancy households.

The council believes that changing to the new alternate-weekly scheme will add 10 percentage points to South Bedfordshire's 30% household waste recycling rate.

Councillor Brian Spurr, executive portfolio holder for the environment at South Bedfordshire, said: “All the evidence in other authorities shows that introducing an alternate week collection service encourages people to recycle more. Most of the districts around South Beds already have alternate week collection. It works successfully in many areas, and 80% of authorities that have a high recycling performance use this method.”

Verdant
South Bedfordshire marks the third significant contract win for Verdant in the last three weeks, along with a seven-year refuse and recycling collection contract with Rother district council and a three-year green waste collection deal with Surrey Heath district council.

The Sevenoaks-based waste management company now runs contracts with 15 local authorities in England and Wales, and believes it is making over 20 million waste and recycling collections each year.

Roger Edwards, development director for Verdant, said: “We’re delighted that South Beds District Council has chosen Verdant to help take it to the next level in recycling performance.

“Our experience will be well used in designing and running a recycling service that aims to deliver significant improvement, and the fact we run a similar contract for nearby Mid Beds district council provides us with a good understanding of local needs and solutions. Clearly, there will be change for local residents, but we’ll work hard to ensure the new scheme is easy to understand and use,” Mr Edwards added.