The seven-year contract, which also covers beach and street cleaning services, will commence in June 2019, when the authority’s current agreement with Kier Environmental Services comes to an end.
When initially advertised the contract was stated to be worth an estimated £15 million per year for the successful bidder.
According to East Sussex, the appointment follows a “robust procurement project” conducted by the three councils over the last year. This comes ahead of the mutually agreed early exit from the partnership’s 10-year contract with Kier, which was signed in 2012.
Biffa already has a strong presence in the region with a contract to operate an MBT plant at Brookhurst Wood, near Horsham for West Sussex county council under a 25 year PFI contract. The company also operates a landfill at the site.
‘Delighted’
Commenting on the new contract, Councillor Tony Ganly, chair of the East Sussex joint waste and recycling committee, said the councils are “delighted” with the appointment of Biffa.
“As a specialist waste management company with a long history, Biffa’s company knowledge and experience provides us with confidence they will deliver an excellent quality of service to our residents,” Cllr Ganly said.
Simon Baddeley, Biffa municipal’s development director, said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded the contract for waste collection, recycling and streets cleansing by the Joint Waste Partnership. We’ll be ensuring our brand new fleet will support a seamless handover from the current waste collection provider while continuing to deliver cost-effective services.
“We’re delighted to have been awarded the contract for waste collection, recycling and streets cleansing by the Joint Waste Partnership.”
Simon Baddeley
Biffa
“We are also excited to be able to use our technology to provide not only a better service for members of the public, but also a safer one for drivers and residents. With the addition of 360-degree cameras to all of our frontline vehicles we will not only keep them safer, but also inspect streets more efficiently while operating the new street cleansing service.”
Kier
The current contract with Kier began in April 2013 and had been due to run until 2023, servicing 200,000 households over a 550 square mile area. The contract was thought to be worth £120 million over its lifetime.
East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership and Kier mutually agreed to end the contract in 2019 – four years ahead of its original end date – due to ‘significant’ change in the recycling market (see letsrecycle.com story).
At present Kier operates an alternate-weekly collection service for residual waste and commingled dry recyclables, with glass presented in a separate container. Residents can also receive an optional free collection service for garden waste.
According to East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership, the councils will work in partnership with the new contractor, employing a flexible approach to meet the ‘changing waste environment and legislation’.
Frontline staff working on the current contract will be protected under TUPE regulations which will see them transferred to the new contract.
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