J&B Recycling has begun running 76 recycling bring bank sites across five Teesside local
authorities, under a deal which could be worth up to £7.5 million to the Hartlepool-based waste company over the next five years.
The contract was procured by the Tees Valley Partnership, involving Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees borough councils, and has already seen J&B deliver 340 new containers to existing sites.
The containers are being used to collect glass, paper, cardboard, cans, plastics and textiles for recycling under an arrangement which, according to J&B, represents the first time bring banks have been standardised across the Teesside region.
The deal will last for three years, with a possible two year extension and is worth £1.5 million a year to J&B. The company’s managing director Vikki Jackson-Smith, said: “This will mean a far more efficient service with brand new colour-coded containers and clearer, user-friendly branding to explain what can be recycled and where it goes.
“Because there’s less containers, there’s likely to be far less congestion at the sites as we have increased the frequency of collections.”
The number of containers in use at each bring site varies from just one up to 15 at the most popular location.
Collections
J&B Recycling began rolling out the new containers in May, after the award of the contract in April. Roll-out was completed last month, and collections of material have now begun.
Of the new containers which were introduced, 300 were manufactured by Taylor to be used for collecting dry recyclables either separately or commingled.
These are the same at all sites, apart from having different loading apertures depending on the material being collected, they all also include locking posts for security.
The move towards standardising the system means all the bins use colour-coded ‘Recycle Now’ iconography’ and the ‘Recycle for Tees Valley’ strapline. This also features on the 40 textile recycling banks, which are a mixture of new and refurbished containers.
Mrs Jackson-Smith claimed the new approach would increase participation by making it “very clear” how to recycle each specific material.
She added: “The idea has been to provide the same service wherever you are in Teesside. That brings economies of scale for ourselves and the local authorities because it means we are collecting far more efficiently.”
NEPO
The bring bank deal is the latest waste contract to be procured through the North East Purchasing Organisation, after the tender portal was used last year by a group of 10 North East councils to appoint compliance Valpak to manage their WEEE and battery services (see letsrecycle.com story).
Source : www.letsrecycle.com
