SUEZ awarded Devon County Council household recycling centre contract

The contract, which is due to start on 01 April 2017, covers the operation of 18 household waste recycling centres and two waste transfer stations for an initial period of five years, with an option to extend year-on-year for four years.

SUEZ bid for the contract as the incumbent service provider, having operated the household waste recycling centres across Devon for the past five years – achieving an exceptional recycling and re-use performance during that time.

Under the contract, Devon County Council and SUEZ will share equally in revenue generated from the sale of resale materials and SUEZ aims to achieve an average waste-diversion target of at least 81 per cent over the duration of the contract. Revenue raised by the sale of resale materials will help support the County Council’s cost of running the service.

Under the new contract, SUEZ will retain the same level of staffing as it previously employed (approximately 130 staff) and will make an investment in new mobile plant and other minor site improvement works.

James Pike, Regional Director for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said: “We have enjoyed a really positive relationship with Devon County Council over the past five years and we are naturally very pleased to be able to continue this relationship.

“To date, we have worked in collaboration with Devon County Council, to continually improve the customer experience, by educating our staff in respect of best practice principals around recycling and how to convey this information to residents. We have also introduced on-site re-use facilities for the benefit of residents and will look to strengthen this offering under the new contract.

“We look forward to continuing to serve the residents of Devon, by helping them to recycle or reuse as much as possible, over the next five years.”

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “This is a very significant contract for the County Council and we believe that, by renewing Suez’s contract, we have secured the best solution, with a focus on price, quality and value for money for the tax payer.

“The new contract will continue to provide a good service to Devon’s communities and the thousands of users of our household waste recycling centres.”