Watford Borough Council has announced that it will be outsourcing its waste and recycling collection services for the ‘first time,’ after awarding Veolia Environmental Services (Veolia) with a £35 million waste contract.
The council has said the decision to outsource the service forms part of the council’s corporate plan 2011-2015 in which it looks to make over £5 million in savings by 2015.
It is hoped that by outsourcing the collections, the council could save £730,000 a year on service costs.
Contract details
The seven-year contract, set to commence on 1 July, will see Veolia provide recycling, waste management, street cleansing and grounds maintenance for 86,000 Watford residents.
According to Veolia, because 20 per cent of the borough is in the ‘metropolitan green belt area’, the contract places a ‘significant emphasis’ on grounds maintenance.
Under the contract, Veolia will also take on the council’s commercial waste portfolio, currently comprising over 840 local customers, as well as operating a call centre for residents contact regarding recycling, refuse collection, and street cleansing issues.
Currently residents receive an alternate weekly collection for recyclables and a weekly collection service for residual waste. Recyclables are collected in three boxes: for paper, glass and plastic, and are sent to for reprocessing at London Waste Ltd. Garden and food waste is collected fortnightly in a green wheeled bin and is sent for composting by West London Composting.
Veolia has said that there will be no immediate change to residents’ collections, but the service structure may be ‘revisited before the end of the year’.
“A controversial decision”
Speaking about the contract, Dorothy Thornhill, Elected Mayor of Watford, said: "Outsourcing was a controversial decision for the council to make, but we were impressed throughout by Veolia's professionalism and the high standards they work to. They have shown they engage well with the public and are committed to looking out for our staff."
Veolia’s Regional Director for Greater London, Pascal Hauret, added: “We are extremely pleased to win this important contract and are looking forward to working in partnership with Watford Borough Council to deliver high quality services that improve the living environment for all the borough’s residents.”
The outsourcing of Watford’s waste collection comes after the council announced it will be giving away ten tonnes of compost to Watford residents on Wednesday (8 May) in support of Compost Awareness Week 2013.
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