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Two Kent councils to pay £300,000 towards replacing RCVs

Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge & Malling borough councils are each set to pay £150,000 toward replacing their entire fleet of refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) as part of an agreement with contractor Urbaser.

Kent county council will review some of the payments made to collection authorities in the area after the rollout of EPR

Subject to approval by Tunbridge Wells’ cabinet on 9 February, the council will pay the money from their 2023/24 budget to cancel their current lease of Dennis Eagle vehicles and enter into a new eight-year deal for 44 RCVs with an unnamed contractor.

Urbaser will foot the remaining cost of the £775,000 project, which forms part of plans to improve a service which has been hit with complaints locally about missed collections.

The two Kent borough councils have also agreed to continue the arrangement where they pay “a maximum of £29,350 each month” in order to boost their HGV drivers’ salaries, with the aim of increasing the retention of staff.

Phases

Spanish-owned Urbaser won a joint deal with the two Kent councils in 2018, taking the contract from Biffa (see letsrecycle.com story).

Last November 2022, Urbaser implemented “phase 1” of its plans to improve services. This led to a “rebalance of the number of properties per round to reflect the changes in subscription numbers and new housing developments”.

A report which will go before the cabinet meeting on 9 February says of the second phase of the plans: “Urbaser has now approached the two councils with a request to consider the implementation of a second phase of re-rounding that will involve changes to food, recycling and refuse collections.

“This Phase 2 also contains a proposal to replace the existing vehicle fleet with brand new vehicles of different configuration to fully optimise the efficiencies from re-rounding.”

The proposal has been recommended for approval.

The changes will benefit the council

  • Tunbridge Wells council

Replacement

Currently, food waste is collected on the same vehicle as either recycling or refuse on most rounds.

Elevated view of Royal Tunbridge Wells (Picture: Shutterstock)

Under the new plans, the proposed fleet configuration will introduce separate food waste collection vehicles to service all properties that currently have a food waste collection.

If the proposal is approved it would be implemented in June and July following a communication campaign to inform residents of the specific changes to their collections.

Urbaser has requested to enter into a lease of eight years with a vehicle supplier, which will go beyond the expiration date of its contract. However, the council said this certainty would make the contract more attractive when it is up for procurement in 2026.

Once the lease expires in 2031, the council says, it also hopes the electric vehicle market will have “matured further”.

The report says that the council has received legal advice on the changes and, “the proposed contribution to the vehicle termination costs does not alter the economic balance of the contract in favour of the incumbent.”

It adds: “The changes will benefit the councils during the remainder of the contract with improved performance and a response to new legislation.”

The councils say they will publish a procurement notice soon.

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