Veolia’s municipal contract began on 30 January and will run for an “initial nine years and nine months”, with the option to extend by a further eight years. Food waste collections will be rolled out under the deal.
However, formal tender documents announcing the value of the contract and a joint statement from the pair are still being awaited and are expected soon.
The award of the contract first came to light in a largely redacted report which went before Hammersmith & Fulham’s cabinet in October 2022.
The report’s authors Annie Baker and Pat Cosgrave, who work in the council’s environmental services team, explained that the contract awarded to Veolia “will help to meet the council’s environmental objectives by allowing opportunities to minimise waste and increase recycling”.
The report added that the council’s external lawyers “will assist with preparing a formal contract”. It added that the invitation to submit final tender was issued with a draft contract and the contract will be entered into on those terms, “subject to confirmation and finalisation of the contract with the preferred bidder”.
However, while this has not been published yet, it is understood Veolia has begun the work and Serco exited the contract as planned at the end of last month.
Serco was awarded the £140 million contract in 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), and the contract was renewed in 2014.
Report
In the approved report in October, it was explained that there is an option for the council to end the contract on the fourth anniversary of the services commencement date, by giving two years notice.
It added that the costs of the services have increased due to a number of factors, including inflationary pressures on all operational costs, property growth and the extra resource requirements arising from additional services that will need to be delivered.
Fleet
The October report also explained that the new deal will see Veolia and the council “build upon work already conducted to move away from the reliance on petro-diesel vehicles and towards a greener fleet”.
The council will provide the capital for, and retain the ownership of, the vehicles set out in the contract, but again the financial value of this was redacted.
It did say however that “the contract allows for new vehicles to be phased into the contract as and when it is economically viable and practicable to do so.”
London
The Hammersmith & Fulham contract comes shortly after Veolia also picked renewed its contract with Brent council earlier this month (see letsrecycle.com story).
The two deals will see Veolia firm its strong position in the capital, as it also has many other contracts across the capital including in Westminster, the City of London and the South London Waste Partnership.
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