Bristol waste contract will save taxpayers £2.5m, says council
By 
A new £14million contract signed today by Bristol City Council will save taxpayers £2.5m a year and ensure no untreated waste goes to landfill within three years.
Bristol City Council have brought in May Gurney to be responsible for Bristol’s waste collection, street cleansing and winter maintenance for the next seven years.
The deal provides incentives for May Gurney, which already works with 21 other local authorities around the UK, to increase recycling rates.
Cabinet Member for strategic waste, Cllr Gary Hopkins, said: “This new contract will help us to deliver a new approach to the way we deal with waste, by giving the contractor the responsibility to find ways to reduce our waste and increase recycling rates and financially incentivising them to do so. It also gives us more options to develop a seamless system for waste collection and disposal.”
May Gurney is the fifth largest provider of municipal waste collection services in the UK, with a market share of 8%
of the outsourced municipal collection market in England and Wales.
The company will receive up to 50% of savings made from sending untreated waste to landfill, which Cllr Hopkins explained to Bristol24-7 would encourage them to increase recycling rates. Doorstep collections of plastics will be extended thanks to the new deal.
Philip Fellowes-Prynne, chief executive of May Gurney, added: “May Gurney’s focus is on working with Bristol to develop better waste collection strategies to ensure we reduce the amount of recyclates that end up in landfill and extract the maximum value from recycled materials. We are encouraged by Bristol’s unique incentivised-based contract.”
The contract will help the council reach targets set out in its waste management strategy in September 2009, including
significant reductions in the amount of waste per household, improving recycling and participation levels, treating and disposing of waste locally, and the ultimate goal of zero untreated waste to landfill.
New recycling schemes, such as the communal bins in St Paul’s and Easton, have already been introduced and organic waste collections are now taken from more than 16,000 flats as well as schools.
“Our officers worked hard to bring this new contract in at a very competitive price, whilst still providing all the services we need and ensuring it was up to meeting the ambitious challenges laid out in our Headline Waste Strategy,” said Cllr Hopkins.
New recycling schemes, such as the communal bins in St Paul’s and Easton, have already been introduced…
Correction: this Easton resident can assure your readers that the communal bins are not for recyclables (which are still collected weekly), but the minging stuff that goes to landfill.