Veolia has been confirmed as preferred bidder for a ten-year municipal waste and recycling collection contract by Stafford Borough Council.
Worth around £35m, the contract includes the processing of dry recycling which will advance services to help the Council meet its environmental objectives. Set to commence in February 2018 Veolia, working in partnership with the Council, will be looking at a series of initiatives to increase recycling, reduce contamination and help improve the environment.
The contract will provide services to over 57,000 homes including recycling and household waste, garden and commercial waste collections as well as ‘Bring Sites’ – which are additional recycling points located in key areas across the Borough.
Backing these operations is investment in a new fleet of frontline vehicles and Veolia will be introducing new efficient routing based on the Borough’s topography and road network. This aims to reduce collection route miles and avoid traffic sensitive areas to help ease congestion during collection times.
Furthermore, Veolia will be implementing its municipal smart technology ‘ECHO’ providing the ability to track vehicles, confirm tasks, change routes and add collections into the system in real-time, facilitating the delivery of a tailored service that can react to day-to-day occurrences.
“Our teams are dedicated to providing an efficient service to the communities we serve, and this new contract will help increase recycling rates across the borough enabling it to better realise the value of its recycling as a valuable commodity.”
As part of its plans to drive continuous improvement across all aspects of the service, the Stafford-Veolia partnership also has plans to improve services, reduce contamination and curb fly tipping through a ‘Hotspotting ’approach. Intelligence gathered by the Echo system will identify service challenge ‘Hot Spots’ and this insight will be used to help carry out targeted education and engagement campaigns – a more efficient, effective and appropriate option to address these challenges than Borough wide campaigns.
Commenting on the contract, Estelle Brachlianoff, Senior Executive Vice President, Veolia UK and Ireland said: “We are very pleased to have been confirmed as preferred bidder for the contract to deliver recycling and waste services for Stafford Borough Council.
“Our teams are dedicated to providing an efficient service to the communities we serve, and this new contract will help increase recycling rates across the borough enabling it to better realise the value of its recycling as a valuable commodity.”
Veolia is also investing in its people with a Professional Development Programme being implemented to help staff develop new skills. This training will be arranged through Veolia’s very own training and development campus located in Staffordshire, with the aim of enhancing social value via Third Sector partnerships.
Veolia has a strong and established presence in the Midlands region. It has local offices in Four Ashes and Cannock and provides services to the communities in Staffordshire, and the neighbouring areas in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.
Additionally, in 2014 Veolia’s Energy Recovery Facility opened in Four Ashes, which converts non-recyclable residual waste into green energy that can power 66,000 homes. This delivers tax savings of about £10 million a year to the residents of Staffordshire and has created 40 jobs.