Telford & Wrekin Council has chosen Veolia Environmental Services (Veolia) to manage its waste and recycling services.

Under the new, 24-year contract, Veolia will take over the unitary authority’s waste services in two phases, starting with the kerbside collection of recyclables and treatment of recyclable and non-recyclable waste from April 2014.

Collection changes

Although the council has said there will be no change to the range of recyclable materials collected, or to collection days under the new contract, its 170,300 residents will see the introduction of a new grey and purple wheelie bin for plastic, glass and cans.

This will replace the current system that sees cans and glass collected in a red box, and plastic bottles and packaging in an orange net bag (cardboard and greeting cards will continue to be collected in a blue bag, batteries and light bulbs in a clear bag, and paper in a blue box).

However, the contract will see a new community recycling centre constructed on the Hortonwood industrial estate, subject to planning consent, and the existing Halesfield site ‘remodelled to improve the facilities offered’.

In April 2019, Veolia will take over the kerbside collection of green and non-recyclable waste and the management of community recycling centres (CRCs) from Telford and Wrekin Services (TWS), a subsidiary of waste management company FCC Environment.

The council has said that employees working for the current contractor in services falling under the new contract will transfer to Veolia at the ‘appropriate time’.

It is hoped the new contract will save the council £30 million and increase the unitary authority’s recycling rate from 43 per cent to 59 per cent, once ‘all the proposed investment and operational improvements are in place’.

‘Significant contract cost savings’

Referring to the two-year procurement process, Councillor Shaun Davies, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “It has been an extensive and robust process to arrive at the point where we have appointed Veolia as our preferred bidder.

“To be able to offer Telford residents enhanced recycling and waste services while making significant contract cost savings is no mean achievement.”

Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia Environment’s Executive Vice-President for the UK and Northern Europe, added: “We are delighted to have been awarded the waste management services contract by Telford & Wrekin Council and look forward to working in partnership to deliver an efficient and cost-effective service for local residents.”

‘Nightmare’ contract

Some residents and other commentators, however, have expressed concerns that the new waste contract could encounter similar problems to the 27-year Veolia contract at neighbouring Shropshire Council, which was agreed in 2007.

Earlier this year, Shropshire Council revealed that the amount it pays Veolia was increasing again from £25.3 million to £25.8 million. At the time, council leader Keith Barrow commented: “The contract we have with Veolia, there are increases and expenses associated with that each year. I personally wouldn’t have signed the contract we have ended up with.”

Chief Executive Clive Wright added that future council contracts would not be based on the same long-term model as the Veolia deal: “What we need today is not what we need in 25 years’ time. We have learned that lesson.”

Read more about waste and recycling in Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire Council’s troubles with Veolia.