The estimated £6.9 million deal – which will also see Biffa manage the unitary authority’s household waste and recycling centres – could be extended a further 13 years to 2037.
Historically one of the top performing councils for recycling in England, the collections contract for North Somerset was previously awarded in 2009 to May Gurney – since acquired by Kier – for a period of seven years.
Kier was one of five waste businesses to have bid for the new contract in November 2015 alongside Cory, FCC Environment and Suez, but was dropped from the final shortlist.
The council states that it considered bringing its collections in-house by setting up a Local Authority Trading Company – but chose a private sector procurement due to the ‘scale, complexity and importance of the service’ and a lack of long-term knowledge on the benefits of LATCOs.
As Biffa prepares to take over waste services from Kier, the council is also rolling out changes to how waste and recyclables are collected at the kerbside.
At present, householders are provided with a wheeled bin for refuse, two boxes for twin-stream dry recyclables, a bag for green waste and a food waste container or caddy. Residual waste is collected fortnightly and recyclables once a week.
Boxes
But under the new contract residents will see the ‘incremental introduction of different coloured boxes’ to increase kerbside separation of materials as well as ‘improve collection efficiency’.
The kerbside collection of small electrical items, expansion of materials that HWRCs can accept and an improved food waste collection service for flats and communal properties, will also be rolled out.
While residual waste collections will remain unchanged, garden waste will move to a subscription-based service, with bags to be replaced with bins at an estimated cost of £1.3 million. North Somerset assumes that 65,000 residents will subscribe to the new service – at a cost of £14.82 per annum.
According to the council, the garden waste changes have been brought in based on a public consultation carried out in autumn 2012 – almost four years ago – when North Somerset’s waste strategy was being devised.
As a result of the changes, the contract is expected to lead to an increase in budget requirement of £1.7 million in 2017/18. To mitigate this, the council are proposing reducing the hours at its HWRCs or charging residents for disposal of ‘DIY’ or construction waste at the facilities – which could lead to a saving of £250,000 for the year.
While the council will be running a budget surplus on refuse collections, it has not ruled out future talks on three-weekly collections – and is also aware of a future gap in treatment capacity.
Capacity
Of the 43,000 tonnes of residual waste produced each year, 25,000 tonnes is landfilled and 18,100 tonnes recovered at New Earth’s Avonmouth MBT plant – but this contract is due to expire in 2020. Landfill costs for the council are currently set at £105 per tonne.
Cllr Peter Bryant, executive member for recycling and waste, said: “As a council we have worked hard to get our recycling and waste service to the current excellent performance levels, and I am keen that we sustain this.
“There are a number of features of the new contract which I hope our residents will welcome, and that will enable us to maintain our position as one of the top performing councils in the country for recycling and waste. This is a great opportunity for all of us to refocus our efforts on reducing, re-using and recycling.”
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