A new eight-year waste and recycling collection contract has been awarded to Serco, with an aim of making waste collections as “environmentally friendly as possible”.
Serco will provide weekly waste and recycling collections across Ascot, Maidenhead and Windsor.
The new eight-year contract will continue to offer weekly waste and recycling collections including food waste, mixed recycling and general waste, as well as the fortnightly subscribed green waste collection service.
With a focus on making waste collections as “environmentally friendly as possible”, the new contract will see the introduction of a more sustainable fleet of collection trucks.
Under the new contract, recycled and garden waste will now be collected together in an effort to help further reduce emissions and cut mileage.
The new trucks will use hybrid technology and reduce carbon emissions by 30% compared to standard trucks, the council says.
Under the new contract, recycled and garden waste will now be collected together in an effort to help further reduce emissions and cut mileage.
The trucks will also have ‘whisper quiet’ electric bin lifts which will also help reduce carbon emissions and the noise associated with conventional hydraulic lifts.
Cllr Gerry Clark, lead member for sustainability, waste services and economic development, said: “We are delighted to award this important contract to Serco following a competitive tender process.
“Their commitment to reducing carbon emissions and making recycling easier for our residents, while maintaining weekly collections made them a standout supplier.
“With a long history of waste collections in England, we are confident Serco will maintain the excellent quality of service to our residents with no change to weekly bin collections.”
Increase recycling
In addition to managing the borough’s recycling and civic amenity site in Maidenhead, a range of new initiatives will be introduced as part of the new contract to help encourage and make it easier for residents to recycle.
One of the schemes will see Serco link up with local charities to increase recycling rates and the introduction of kerbside recycling for batteries and small electrical items. It’s hoped these new initiatives will encourage more residents to recycle.
Managing Director for Serco Environment Services, Ronnie Coutts, said: ‘We are delighted to have been chosen to support the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead in delivering a range of services over the next eight years.
“This award is testament to the hard work our frontline teams do each day and to the progress we are making in delivering innovation and change”.
Residents will see no initial changes to the waste and recycling collections when Serco take over the contract in September 2019.