Spokesmen for UPM and the council told letsrecycle.com that the two parties were currently in the process of finalising the details of the deal, which is expected to be formally announced shortly.
UPM will replace the councils existing contractor Viridor to process dry recyclables for the local authority, at its 270,000 tonne capacity materials recovery facility (MRF), located on the site of the firms paper mill in Shotton, North Wales.
A total of 17 million was invested in the MRF, including a 1.7 million investment from the Welsh Government, in a bid to help UPM secure the long term supply of high quality recovered paper feedstock it needs for its paper mill.
MRF
The Shotton MRF formally opened in July 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story) and at the time UPM said it was designed to achieve the highest recovery rates in the UK at 99%.
While only paper recovered in the facility is used in UPMs mill, the majority of other materials sorted at the plant remain within the UK, with around 80% travelling only a few miles to be reprocessed. As of December 2011, the facility was running at around 40% of its total capacity, but the company expects it will reach full capacity within three years.
The plant has already helped UPM secure contracts to process dry recycling for Rochford district council, as well as contracts with Cheshire East, Denbighshire and Warrington borough council (see letsrecycle.com story).
Cherwell
Cherwell district council provides residents with an alternate-weekly dry recycling collection, collecting material such as aluminium and steel cans, plastic bottles, newspapers, magazines, paper, card and aerosol cans from the kerbside. The council also has drop off points for material such as glass, textiles and tetrapaks.
The local authority achieved a recycling rate of 57% in 2010/11, up from 11% in 2003, making it the twelfth highest performing council in England.
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