The meeting was organised by the council in an attempt to reach consensus on how the two parties might form a partnership when SITA takes over the waste and recycling collection contract for the whole of the West Yorkshire borough on August 1, but the parties failed to reach a resolution.
This is a disappointing outcome for us. We would like to stress that, far from wanting to sideline Kerbside Calderdale, we have been trying to expand their service
David Foster, SITA UK
The situation has developed since SITA was awarded the council's contract in April 2008 and initially announced it intended to work in partnership with Kerbside, which currently provides recycling collections for 26,000 of Calderdale's 87,000 households.
Since then, the possibility of the two parties working together had progressively become less likely, with Kerbside indicating earlier this week that it would continue to offer its existing recycling collections after August 1, even if this involved going “head to head” with a collection service provided by SITA (see letsrecycle.com story).
And, yesterday's meeting was believed to represent one of the last chances for the two camps to hammer out a workable partnership.
SITA
Reacting to the outcome of yesterday's unsuccessful discussions, SITA UK's municipal director, David Foster, said: “This is a disappointing outcome for us. We would like to stress that, far from wanting to sideline Kerbside Calderdale, we have been trying to expand their service.
“We have made numerous attempts over recent months to reach an agreement for Kerbside Calderdale to expand their recycling service to cover all 87,000 households across the district (from the current 25,000 properties they serve). However, we have been unable to reach an agreement that would guarantee the service across the district.
“We have also made alternative offers to Kerbside Calderdale, including providing the opportunity for them to collect bulky waste,” he added. “And, we have offered to fund Kerbside Calderdale to allow the continuation of the training and social enterprise aspects of their work.
“Unfortunately, all of these offers have been rejected,” he explained.
Jobs
Mr Foster also repeated SITA's offer of roles for all Kerbside's employees: “We would like to stress that all members of staff at Kerbside Calderdale have been offered new jobs with us.”
“They have worked hard to achieve the service in Calderdale and we hope that they will join us and continue their good work. Those that choose to join us will benefit from the terms and conditions that come from working with SITA UK,” he added.
Kerbside
However, Kerbside's chief executive, Paul Brannigan, questioned SITA's approach to yesterday's meeting, claiming that: “They went to yesterday's meeting not to find a way forward, they went to justify their position.”
And, he told letsrecycle.com that, while an offer of bulky waste collections had been made, Kerbside believed it would require an extra grant or council funding, as well as requiring its 18 staff to undergo additional training – all of which rendered it unworkable in the short-term.
He said that he was currently unable to comment on any other offers made by SITA but that 14 out of 18 of Kerbside's employees planned to stay with the organisation, despite its “uncertain future”.
Rival
With an agreement over services not being reached, it now looks increasingly likely that SITA and Kerbside will be offering rival recycling collections for at least some of Calderdale's residents from August 4.
“We will still continue to collect,” Mr Brannigan confirmed. “We have a responsibility to the 60,000 householders who we serve, they're our shareholders.”
The contract signed by SITA for the collection service requires it to “seek” to work with the voluntary sector, and Mr Foster explained that, with its service still set to launch as scheduled, it was still hoping to do so.
“It has always been our desire to work with the voluntary sector in Calderdale and we are currently in discussions with a number of voluntary groups to provide services in the district,” he said.
“Looking ahead, from the beginning of August, all 87,000 householders across the district will be able to recycle their glass, paper, cans and textiles through the scheme that SITA UK will operate on behalf of the council.
“Calderdale has some tough recycling targets to achieve and we are confident that the introduction of the new recycling service will help the council to achieve these,” he added.
Council
Calderdale council's deputy leader, councillor Stephen Baines, confirmed that the council would be working with SITA to ensure the voluntary sector was involved.
“Calderdale council is confident that SITA will fulfil its obligations to involve social enterprise in its operation and will work with SITA to ensure that this happens,” he said.
He added: “The council's new waste collection contract will come into operation at the beginning of August.”
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