Verdant has this week started rolling out new recycling and refuse containers to over 50,000 households in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire in preparation for the introduction of a new waste and recycling service.
The current service provided by Veolia sees residents in the Vale of White Horse place their waste in standard bins and bags, which are collected once a week, with recyclable materials put in green boxes whilst garden and cardboard waste is collected in brown bins.
Under the new contract with Verdant one of the main changes will be the introduction of weekly food waste collections alongside fortnightly collections on alternate weeks of residual waste and recyclables.
Most waste will now also be collected in wheeled bins which are being delivered by TJK Logistics as opposed to recycling boxes and refuse sacks. Single stream commingled dry recyclables will be collected fortnightly from a 240 liter wheeled bin, residual waste from a 180 liter and green waste from a 240 liter on an existing subscription based fortnightly collection.
The bins are being supplied by Otto and will be RFID-chipped to help record individual bin collections to aid customer service. Residents will also receive kitchen caddies supplied by Straight.
Verdant's contract with Vale of White Horse was signed in January 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story) as part of a £50 million joint deal which also saw it take over waste and recycling collections for neighbouring South Oxfordshire district council in June 2009. South Oxfordshire's previous contractor was Grundon.
Since Verdant took over collections in South Oxfordshire and introduced the new service, recycling and composting rates have increased from 42.8% in 2008/09 to 64.2% in 2009/10 (see letsrecycle.com story) – with the council now achieving recycling rates of almost 70%.
Verdant managing director, Roger Edwards, said: “It's been hugely successful in South Oxfordshire, thanks to the efforts of everyone concerned, we are confident that it will significantly improve recycling in the Vale.”
Support
The new service is supported by the Verdant-managed customer service unit which will assist residents with related queries. Sack based services will still be available for properties unsuitable for wheeled bins.
Those living in flats or communal buildings will keep their current service of large shared bins until later in the year when new food waste bins and larger recycling services will be provided. No changes will be made to assisted collections for people with mobility problems.
Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Vale of White Horse's executive member for waste services, said: “The new service will mean tonnes of Vale's waste that currently ends up in landfill will either be recycled or composted. We look forward to seeing the new service start and our recycling rates increase.”
Verdant Group Plc is owned by Greenstar UK which is currently being taken over by the owners of Biffa in a deal which received European approval this week (see letsrecycle.com story).
Register for free to comment