Three Kent councils have signed a brand new waste and recycling contract with SUEZ Recycling and Restoration UK Ltd, value round £19m per yr throughout the entire Mid Kent contract.
Ashford, Maidstone and Swale councils – who work collectively because the Mid Kent Waste Partnership – have awarded the eight-year contract to Suez after a joint tender course of. The brand new service begins in March 2024 and can usher in new expertise and trade enhancements, while retaining massive elements of the present service.
Fortnightly collections of waste and recycling will proceed throughout the three boroughs, with one wheeled bin for dry recycling, alongside the common weekly meals waste collections. The brand new contract provides the possibility to extend recycling charges, improved effectivity of the routes, decrease emissions autos and higher expertise to maintain residents updated.
The brand new autos are being funded instantly by the councils to assist save prices and shall be extra trendy autos that use electrical bin lifts. This may assist scale back the consumption of diesel dramatically, serving to decrease the providers’ carbon footprint.
Ashford and Swale will even see their avenue cleaning service delivered by Suez, while Maidstone’s will stay in-house. The brand new contract consists of proposed enhancements to the extent of cleaning in rural and residential areas, in addition to faster response instances to the elimination of fly-tipping.
The present service will proceed to be delivered by the Mid Kent Waste Partnership together with Biffa Municipal Ltd till the beginning of the brand new contract.
Abstract of key advantages of the brand new service:
Most workers will keep the identical, as there’s a requirement for employees to maneuver from one contractor to the subsequent, subsequently we shall be maintaining a consistency within the service.
We’ll proceed using native expertise and other people as nearly all of workers are native residents and by maintaining the identical assortment and cleaning workers this implies they preserve the native borough data of collections and the realm.
The gathering system will keep the identical as we’ll keep the favored fortnightly recycling spherical, a fortnightly waste spherical, weekly meals waste collections and the non-compulsory fortnightly backyard waste providers.
Whereas the rounds will keep the identical, it’s possible that after the 27 March 2024, residents’ assortment day will alter, resulting in a extra environment friendly assortment schedule general.
Meals waste will proceed to be collected individually however it could actually appear complicated with it going into the again of the identical truck (albeit in separate sections). The brand new car fleet has the purpose of meals waste together with the truck, exhibiting a transparent separation between the various kinds of waste collected.
Improved textile and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Digital Gear) collections may be organized when reserving a bulk assortment and likewise by roadshows, the place a particular car attends areas throughout the borough all year long.
Bulk collections shall be re-used the place doable, with the brand new contactor partnering with the charity Demelza Home, in order that gadgets that may be re-used reasonably than go to waste.
The brand new contract will assist in decreasing the council’s carbon footprint as the brand new autos are Euro VI which has decrease emissions.
The brand new contractor additionally intends utilizing a small variety of electrical autos which, mixed with route and spherical upgrades, quantities to a 16 tonne discount in carbon emissions.
We have now ensured prices are saved as little as doable by working in partnership throughout the three authorities to tender for the brand new contract.