Suez and Kirklees confirm two-year ‘interim’ deal

The council’s move to extend its interim deal is likely to be replicated by dozens of local authorities across the UK, after letsrecycle.com revealed last week that the roll-out of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging had been delayed to 2024 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Suez’s original contract with Kirklees was signed in 1998 and due to expire in 2023. The interim contract will see Suez continue to provide waste disposal and recycling services until March 2025.

Kirklees approved the “interim arrangements” in September 2021 as it waits for the publication of regulations contained within the Environment Bill (see letsrecycle.com story).

The council said the interim extension would allow Kirklees to wait for word of any funding that might be available to support service delivery changes. It will then begin procuring a longer-term contract.

Under the interim deal, Suez will now begin collecting plastic pots, tubs, and trays alongside plastic bottles, paper, card, and tins from the kerbside from 31 March.

Residual waste will continue to go to an EfW plant operated by Suez in Huddersfield.

Kirklees council will also have the option to extend the opening times of its household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) by one hour during the summer months.

‘Ambitious plans’

Councillor Naheed Mather, Kirklees council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “We have ambitious plans for waste management in Kirklees. This is not a simple like-for-like extension but a new interim arrangement to enable us to start delivering on some of our ambitions from our waste and recycling strategy.

“This includes bringing in changes to our recycling services due to start at the end of March and also extends opening hours at our household waste recycling sites throughout the summer months, making it easier still for residents to recycle their waste.”

Kirklees

Representing an estimated population of nearly 440,000, Kirklees council had a household waste recycling rate of 25% in the 2020/21 financial year.

On behalf of Kirklees, Suez operates the 130,000 tonnes per year capacity EfW facility, a materials recycling facility (MRF), two waste transfer stations, five HWRCs, and two closed landfill sites.

Suez says the MRF is currently being adapted to process a wider range of materials and the recruitment process for the required additional operatives has already begun.

Nick Browning, general manager at Suez, said: “We have a long and proud history working with Kirklees council. We are delighted that by extending our partnership for a further two years, we will be able to recycle even more material and continue to divert the vast majority of Kirklees’s waste away from landfill.”