Viridor will continue its recycling partnership with Kent county council after agreeing a one year contract extension worth £6.2 million.
Viridor’s Crayford MRF has an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes
As part of the arrangement, around 62,000 tonnes of mixed recycling will be processed at Viridor’s Crayford Materials Recycling Facility (MRF).
The contract to process and sell Kent’s kerbside recycling was first awarded to Viridor in 2014, for an initial duration of two years, and was extended for a further two year in 2016 (see letsrecycle story).
‘Specialist’
Simon Prior, head of local authority development and integrated contracts at Viridor said: “A crucial aspect of this contract has been Viridor’s ability to demonstrate the onward journey of recycling, particularly plastic, through our investment in specialist recycling and reprocessing plants here in the UK, specifically at Rochester in Kent and Skelmersdale in Lancashire.”
Head of waste management services at Kent county council, David Beaver, added: “Processing recyclable materials as close to the point of collection remains the strategic goal for the disposal authority, but for Viridor to treat and reprocess materials within the UK is of equal importance and valued by the Authority.”
“Processing recyclable materials as close to the point of collection remains the strategic goal for the disposal authority”
Kent county council recorded a 47.2% recycling rate in 2018/19, and serves around 1.5 million people.
‘Meaningful’
Material such as paper, card, plastic bottles, cans and glass will be sorted using optical sortation, mechanical process and manual quality control at the nearby Crayford MRF.
Taken over by Viridor when the firm acquired Grosvenor Waste Management in December 2007, the Crayford MRF has the capacity to process around 400,000 tonnes of material each year.
Viridor commercial director Paul Ringham said: “We know local authorities want to demonstrate to their residents that taking the time to recycle at home and reduce contamination has a massive impact on our everyone’s recycling targets.
Viridor’s commercial director Paul Ringham
“Increasingly, residents and their local authorities want to demonstrate their commitment to environmental and sustainability goals in a meaningful way, and investment in advanced recycling infrastructure is how Viridor is able to support the commitment councils make to residents.
“Our commitment to investment in this crucial infrastructure, addressing the reprocessing gap and returning UK resources to UK manufacturers and consumers brands will continue. Viridor will prioritise opportunities to link this infrastructure with our fleet of energy recovery facilities, the combined heat and power plants, which demonstrates Viridor’s emphasis on both resource and energy efficiency.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
