The unitary authority of Wiltshire council is poised to release details of contract arrangements for collection of waste and recycling services which are due to have come into force from August 1 2017.
But, the council has so far drawn a veil of secrecy over whether it has actually awarded the single contract for the work, although Hills Waste Management was chosen in January 2016.
Hills already operates kerbside collections in Wiltshire
There also appears to have been no announcement to the Wiltshire public about the new contract coming into force from August 1. Now a revised date, such as the end of 2017, is thought to be a possibility.
Emergency
And, Wiltshire council has recently invoked “emergency powers” to let some waste collections and waste management service contracts although details have been kept confidential.
In January 2016, (see letsrecycle.com story), the choice of Hills, which is based in Wiltshire, was heralded by the council (which is made up by former district councils and the city of Salisbury) as a contract which would provide a “vital service”. And, the council emphasised the advantages of the work being delivered by one collection contractor.
Robust
In a statement following a council meeting on 19 January 2016, Wiltshire council said: “The award of contracts follows a robust procurement process where Hills demonstrated how it will deliver cost-effective services to the specification the council requires.”
The selection of Hills was widely reported in national and local media in January 2016 with a brief mention of the fact that “there will now be a 10-day standstill period until 30 January, before the award of the public contract can be confirmed and the contract entered into.”
And, also on 20 January, Hills at the time indicated that it had secured the work. It said in a statement that “Hills Waste Solutions has successfully secured each of the five contracts offered in the recent procurement process for the provision of waste collection and waste management services for Wiltshire Council.”
A collection contract announcement is expected soon
Confirmed
Hills’ statement continued: “The announcement was made at a Wiltshire Council cabinet meeting on 19 January 2016 where it was confirmed that Hills had been awarded Lot 2 (management of household recycling centres) and Lot 5 (waste collection services). Lots 1, 3 and 4 were awarded to Hills in July 2015. As with all major public contracts, this decision is now subject to a 10 day standstill period which ends on 30 January 2016.”
Lot 5 included the commingled collection of dry recyclables with separate glass. (This year, Wiltshire has been involved in talks about the purchase of vehicles in respect of Lot 5.)
Challenge
Today, Hills said it could not comment on the current situation but it would be making a statement soon.
Wiltshire also declined to comment and could not confirm whether there had been a challenge to its original contract decision with the 10-day period.
Hills already provides recycling collection services to Wiltshire council under an extension to a past contract although FCC Environment provides services to the west Wiltshire part of the council area. FCC also does the residual waste collection work which involves bringing waste to Hills’ MBT plant and Hills also has a contract to send 50,000 tonnes per annum of waste to the Lakeside energy from waste plant near Slough.
Boxes
The new contract will see some changes. Tracy Carter, service director for waste management at Wiltshire council, has explained in a January 2016 briefing note to councillors that black boxes will be used for glass collection only and blue lidded bins will take all other recyclables including a wider selection of plastics. And, Ms Carter noted that the contract will run for eight years with the option to extend for a further eight years.
Agreements
In terms of starting dates for the contract, Wiltshire council’s cabinet member for waste, Bridget Wayman, said in May 2017 that emergency powers had been used following a decision by the “Corporate Director” to sign a “number of agreements and contracts as set out in the proposal contained in the report.” The report has been kept confidential as has most information regarding the contract.
Speaking at the recent CIWM conference in London, Ms Carter explained that Wiltshire empties over 810,000 bins and boxes per fortnight. In 2016-17 the council managed 212,000 tonnes of household waste with 21% of residual waste landfilled. The recycling and composting rate was 43.78%.
Green waste collections are charged for at the rate of £44 per green bin (£42 last year) emptied fortnightly.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
