SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has awarded a new eight-year, £120 million contract to collect waste and recycling from homes and businesses to current provider Suez.
The council says the new contract, which is subject to final ratification by the ruling Lib Dem-Labour cabinet in November, follows an “extensive, competitive tendering process”.
The new contract will start in August next year, and replaces the current 25-year PFI (Private Finance Initiative) arrangement.
The authority says it will “deliver improved value for money” and also allow for the council to improve its recycling rate.
The contract only covers kerbside waste and recycling collections, as the council is taking the running of its Sort It recycling centres and waste transfer stations back in-house.
It says most improvements will be “behind the scenes”, but residents will be able to use a new app to make it quicker and easier to report problems.
Cabinet member for waste and recycling services Sean Rhodes said: “The new contract will also allow us to make even greater progress to increase recycling rates.
“It provides the flexibility to, over time, recycle more and different materials from households at the kerbside, making it easier for everyone to play their part to improve our environment and reduce waste.”
Earlier this year the council said that it wants to eventually make black bin collections every three weeks instead of every fortnight, with bidders for the contract asked to submit costs for three-weekly as well as fortnightly collections.
But a spokesperson said at the time that changes to the frequency of black bin collections would only happen after steps to recycle more had reduced the amount of recyclables and food waste being put into black bins, which currently make up almost two thirds of their contents.
Suez chief executive officer John Scanlon said the new contract included extending the collection of flexible plastic packaging to all households.