REW provides a service to Welsh local authorities to work collaboratively in achieving environmental and economic efficiency.
It heads up a group of fourteen local authorities under the name The Collaborating Local Authorities in Resource Efficiency (CLAIRE) Wales.
The group has chosen Goldstone Books the framework winning supplier. Under the agreement, the collected books, CDs and DVDs from across member council sites are transported to Goldstone Books HQ at Llandybie for processing.
Nine local authorities have signed up to the call-off contract to date, including Merthyr Tydfil county borough council (MTCBC), Blaenau Gwent county borough council, Caerphilly county borough council, Cardiff city council, Carmarthenshire county council, Monmouthshire county council, Newport city council, Powys county council and Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council.
Process
The group said that typically, eight tonnes of material are collected each week. It added that the items are firstly rough sorted as either economically viable for reuse (approximately 70%) or sent straight for recycling (approximately 30%).
Books deemed for recycling can be worn, damaged, wet or a title that is extremely popular and not unique enough for commercial resale. CDs and DVDs need to be in “excellent quality order” with the plastic casing, branding and any supporting paperwork, the group explained.
A “fine sort” follows, logging and filing titles in Goldstone Books software system. The reused books sold to the public at the company’s retail shop in Carmarthen, with 2,000 books re-entering the economy.
Framework
Led by MTCBC, the framework agreement allows for the formation of call of contracts by the group’s members to the service from 1 April this year until 28 February 2025. It also includes the option for an extension by a further year.
Cllr David Hughes, portfolio member for neighbourhood services at MTCBC, stated that “as the framework has been adopted by other councils in Wales there is an efficient, standardised contract that benefits from economies of scale”.
James Kay, regional waste co-ordinator at Resource Efficiency Wales, said: “Collectively we are implementing the waste hierarchy, keeping greater value in Wales, as we move beyond recycling. We are all excited about the opportunities working as a group of councils with Goldstone to increase circular economy opportunities during this framework.”
‘Circular economy’
Ashley Stamford-Plows, founder of Goldstone Books, commented: “The circular economy, re-use and recycling has never been more important. We are therefore delighted to have been chosen as the preferred supplier to continue collecting, re-using and recycling waste media from over fifty local authority recycling centres across Wales, ensuring that everything we collect enters the circular economy or is recycled responsibly with nothing going to landfill.”
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