Newport city council in Wales is seeking a contractor to sort commingled municipal material although the authority is a longstanding advocate of kerbside sorting.
The tender call appears to be part of a strategy by the authority to collect recyclables from traders while turning away their trade residual waste or “municipal commercial” residual waste as a way to boost its municipal recycling rates.
Newport in south Wales where the city council is seeking recyclable materials from traders
Newport council is keeping the details of the proposed contract under wraps and has refused to explain exactly what form of municipal material will be sorted to the value of £44,000 a month.
‘Help us’
The official definition of municipal waste includes household waste and also similar commercial waste and it is thought that the contract will be for commercial material, with the potential for it to help boost the authority’s recycling figures.
The council is currently urging traders in the borough to take up its commingled trade waste service to “help us reach our 52% recycling target” and telling them that “75% of business waste can easily be recycled.” However, traders are told by the council, “we cannot accept… general waste” which appears to mean that the recycling rates could be disproportionately boosted as “municipal commercial” residual waste might not be included in calculations.
Kerbside
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, a spokesperson from the council said: “All we are saying on this is that there is no change to council waste services and none are anticipated. We are keeping our kerbside collection services carried out by Wastesavers.”
“This notice is not related to household waste and recycling collections. The council carries out fortnightly bin collections and Wastesavers do weekly recycling collections.”
The contract, which will run for 7 months from 1 September 2017 – 31 March 2018, has an estimated value of £312,000.
According to the contract notice, “The aim of this contract is to achieve maximum levels of recycling from the sorted waste, with recovery and diversion from landfill of any recyclable content, in accordance with the waste hierarchy and Welsh Government Wales Waste Measure.”
Boundaries
The council has decreed that the sorting plant must be within Newport boundaries: “in order for collection vehicles to finish their rounds within the established working hours”. And Newport said: “The Council have no alternative but to reject any bids that do not meet this delivery requirement, as it would render our existing service provision inoperable.”
Currently, household recycling is sorted and collected at the kerbside by charitable organisation, Wastesavers. A red bag is used for plastics, cans, foil; a green box for cardboard, Tetra cartons, glass jars; a blue box for paper, textiles, small electrical items; and a food caddy for food scraps, peelings and leftovers.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
