The council has handed over its recycling and waste collection contract to Cory Environmental, after the High Court in Birmingham placed South Herts into administration late last month.
Councillors and senior officers held a number of meetings with SHWM and default penalty notices were issued in response to the poor service.
Cory Environmental Municipal Services Ltd is now set to take over running the contract for a three-month period, while the council decides its next move.
Service
Before the administration order was made on April 19, the council said South Herts had been experience “mounting problems over the last few weeks and that the quality of the service has declined”.
After a special meeting of the Epping Forest cabinet last Friday, council leader John Knapman said: “Councillors were becoming increasingly concerned about the standard of service at South Herts Waste Management.
“We could see the importance of having alternative plans for refuse collection in place, and made sufficient contingency plans to move extremely quickly once the administration order was issued by the High Court,” he explained.
Jobs
The council said the transfer of the contract to Cory would protect the jobs of the local collection workforce, many of whom live locally.
Cory's head of development, Lesley Letts, added: “We will work closely with the council in coming weeks to affect a smooth transfer. Epping Forest already has a good record as one of the best recycling authorities in the country. We are looking forward to building on that success and to provide a high quality service to residents.”
South Herts
South Herts Waste Management was formed in 1987, and is based in Stratford, London. The council has been operating household waste recycling centres in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Kent, Doncaster and Barnsley. Prior to going into administration, the company had about 350 employees and reported on its website that it had expected to achieve a turnover of 20 million in 2004/05.
Last year saw the company leasing 430,000 worth of machinery through WRAP's equip scheme to establish at a new materials recycling facility in Newark (see letsrecycle.com story).
The company was fined 20,000 by Nottingham magistrates in August 2005 for breeching waste management licence conditions at four sites through an “administration error” (see letsrecycle.com story).
An administrator for South Herts Waste Management has been appointed by the High Court through PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
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