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New waste and recycling contractor announced

West Oxfordshire District Council has awarded its new waste management contract to May Gurney, a private contractor, for a 7 year period.

Starting in autumn 2010 May Gurney will operate West Oxfordshire’s waste and recycling collection service on behalf of the District Council.

The new service will provide opportunities to increase recycling in West Oxfordshire and will comprise:
* a new free weekly food waste collection - for cooked and uncooked foods
* a fortnightly free garden waste collection available to all households. Currently this is a charged-for service and the Council is only able to offer it to a limited number of households.
* weekly recycling ‘black box’ collections for a range of different materials including glass, paper, cardboard, tins, cans, plastics, aerosols, batteries, aluminium foil, textiles and shoes.
* fortnightly household waste collections alternating with the garden waste collection.

As a result of the new service, it is estimated that West Oxfordshire residents will be able to recycle at least 60 per cent of their waste which would almost double the current recycling rate.

Cllr David Harvey, Cabinet Member for Environment said, “It’s all about improving services, delivering long-term environmental benefits and providing value for money. People living in West Oxfordshire are keen recyclers and we know that having greater opportunities to recycle is something that they will welcome. Under the new scheme our recycling rates will rise significantly with less and less being sent to landfill. I am delighted to welcome May Gurney to West Oxfordshire and we are looking forward to working with them.”

The contract, worth up to £21million over seven years, is a double triumph for May Gurney as it is a win-back contract.

Nicola Peake, managing director, environmental services, May Gurney said, “We are thrilled to be back and relish the challenge of expanding West Oxfordshire’s recycling systems over the next seven years.

“As part of the recycling strategy, food waste collections will be introduced and we will enhance the current recycling services for the residents of West Oxfordshire.

Nicola added, “In addition to this we will introduce an annual report for residents so that they can see what happens to their recycling. We will report on the number of tonnes being collected and what process the materials go through to be made into new items such as newspapers, egg boxes, and cans – to then re-enter the recycling process; increasing the carbon benefits and proving that by recycling they really are helping the environment.”

Like all local authorities West Oxfordshire District Council has to meet challenging national and European recycling targets and avoid major landfill charges.

Providing environmental services for 20 local authorities across the UK, May Gurney’s recycling expertise will help West Oxfordshire achieve the escalating regulatory pressure to recycle more and waste less.

At present West Oxfordshire residents recycle around 34% of their waste, but this falls short of the 40 per cent required by 2010 in the Oxfordshire Joint Waste Strategy and the target will rise to 45 per cent by 2015. This is why West Oxfordshire District Council is doing more to avoid financial penalties.

In addition, sending waste to landfill sites is costly. Not only do council tax payers need to foot the bill for disposal costs and tax on every tonne of waste that ends up in the landfill site, but exceeding set landfill allowances will incur even greater penalties

Not only will the new improved recycling scheme have environmental benefits and help avoid direct landfill costs, it will generate income for the district council through its recycling credit system with the county council.

Funding to introduce the new food waste service has been obtained from WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme).

During the summer more information about the new service will be sent to all households.

Posted : 04/06/2010 11:49:05

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