Willshee’s says the deal covers 8,500 tonnes of glass, metals, plastics, paper, and card each year.
The contract starts this month with the work being undertaken at Willshee’s Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Swadlincote, which involved a £10million investment “to build the most advanced recycling plant in the Midlands”.
Councillor Steve Taylor, chair of South Derbyshire’s environment and development services committee, said: “We are committed to supporting local businesses and we are really pleased to be working with the team at the Swadlincote depot and extending the work we already do with Willshee’s in Burton.
“The decision to award this contract to Willshee’s is part of a wider process which saw recycling collections brought in-house as part of the council’s commitment to the environment and to safeguard local jobs.”
The council previously held a processing contract with Palm Recyling, and this deal ran for eight years. Willshee’s’ contract begins this month.
Swadlincote
Describing itself as “the largest independent waste and recycling company in the East Midlands region”, Willshee’s has operated in the sector for more than 37 years.
Alongside skip-and other equipment hire, the company says it offers services for the reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal of waste.
In March, Willshee’s announced that, following a £10 million investment, it had opened the “most advanced recycling plant in the Midlands” at its 33-acre site in Swadlincote (see letsrecycle.com story). The MRF allows Willshee’s to process an additional 120,000 tonnes per year of mixed wastes from unsegregated containers. Willshee’s says the MRF is powered by solar panels, with excess power sold back to the national grid.
Commenting on the company’s new deal, Willshee’s commercial manager Simon Lowe said: “We are delighted to be building on the great relationship we have with South Derbyshire district council through this new contract. And it is exciting to see more and more business coming into our new state-of-the-art facility.”
South Derbyshire
Representing an estimated population of nearly 105,000, South Derbyshire district council had a household waste recycling rate of 45.2% in the 2019/20 financial year.
South Derbyshire brought its collection services in-house in March. Prior to this, rounds were carried out by Derbyshire-based metal and waste recycling specialist Ward.
In August, the council decided to remove all seven of its bring bank sites due to high levels of contamination and “anti-social behaviour” (see letsrecycle.com story).
*UPDATED 05/11 at 10:00 to reflect that the contract is for handling recyclables, rather than processing.
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