The contract, which covers the south of the county, will start on October 1 and will deal with 70,000 tonnes of waste a year. Initially waste delivered from three council areas including the City of Oxford, Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire and from three waste recycling centres will be landfilled at WRG’s Sutton Courtenay facility.
But the contract has been designed to increase recycling in the county and discussions are taking place between the council and WRG to see what facilities need to be built to meet local needs and increase recovery. A materials recovery facility and a bulking-up station for recyclables are possible options.
Patrick Coulter, head of waste management at Oxfordshire County Council, said: “We are working closely with the district councils to ensure that facilities are provided to enable us to increase recovery in Oxfordshire. This exciting new contract offers us the ability to co-ordinate the introduction of new facilities to achieve this in the southern half of Oxfordshire. New facilities may include a bulking up station for recyclables, a materials recovery facility for sorting out mixed recyclables, or other facilities that will help to deliver the government’s tough targets for recycling and recovery.”
WRG is already carrying out work in Oxfordshire following its acquisition of Hanson Waste Management in December 2000 and Steve Bruce-Jones, managing director of WRG, said: “We have been providing waste management services in Oxfordshire for many years. This new contract gives us the opportunity to continue our long and successful relationship. We are looking forward to working closely with the council to provide new facilities and offer continually improving waste management services.”
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