The first agreement, which is worth £112 million over 14 years, gives the Somerset-based company responsibility for the transfer, transport and disposal of up to 450,000 tonnes a year of waste and recyclables for the partnership – which is made up of Kingston, Merton, Croydon and Sutton councils.
The company's regional director for the South-East, Graham Warren, welcomed its success in winning the contracts.
“We are delighted, not least because it shows how councils can work effectively in partnership and with the private sector for the benefit of the communities we all serve,” he said.
While the contract for transfer, transport and disposal was awarded in February 2008, the agreement for Viridor to handle composting – which will take place at its Beddington site in Croydon, MRF and other treatment responsibilities was agreed by the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) in late July 2008.
As lead borough for procurement within the SLWP, the award of both contracts was made by Kingston council, with the agreements – as well as the one made to Environment Waste Controls to manage the area's Household Reuse and Recycling Centres – coming into operation on September 1.
Both deals have been awarded for a 14 year period and have the option of being extended by a further five years.
A major part of the contracts involves the boroughs' waste and recyclables being delivered to one of two waste transfer stations, one which is also at Beddington and another at Villiers Road in Kingston.
From there, recyclables are bulked up for sale to reprocessors, while residual waste will be sent to Viridor's existing landfill site, which is also located at Beddington.
However, with a view to longer-term treatment of non-recyclables, the SLWP has indicated that it is working towards developing an outline business case to submit an outline business case to Defra in a bid to secure PFI funding for a residual waste solution that it plans to have on-line by April 2012.
The SLWP – which was formed in early 2007 and has indicated that it may look to become a statutory joint waste authority (see letsrecycle.com story) – is also looking to help boost recycling rates, and the partnership's chairman, councillor Derek Osbourne, explained that the contracts with Viridor would help to achieve this goal.
“This initiative restates the commitment of all four boroughs to meeting and exceeding the EU targets for reducing reliance on landfill and to achieving high levels of recycling,” he said.
“In working with Viridor we are complementing each borough's recycling programmes and helping a large swathe of South London to achieve its recycling objectives.
“Ensuring that the recyclables collected are separated for recycling and informing local people about this, enables us to maximise the grass-roots enthusiasm for recycling across the four boroughs,” he added.
And, Mr Warren outlined how he envisaged Viridor's involvement would support the partnership members' efforts to increase their recycling rates.
He said: “Fortunately the boroughs are strong on recycling already, however their efforts have to be supported with the necessary infrastructure to continue their good progress and Viridor is well-placed to provide that support.”
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