Date: 07/11/2007
High Peak Borough Council's Executive has agreed to contract out the council's waste and recycling service to Veolia.
The decision follows an 18-month cross-party evaluation of the borough's refuse, recycling and trade waste procurement for the Environment Select Committee. There were four proposed tenders, including an in-house bid.
The Executive accepted the Environment Select Committee's four recommendations.
Councillor John Haken, High Peak Borough Council's Executive Member for the Environment, said: "This is a really good deal for our residents - Veolia currently operates in three other Derbyshire districts."
He went on to say: "The staff affected by the transfer have been informed that their terms and conditions of employment and pension provision will be protected."
Speaking about the Veolia bid, Councillor Haken said: "The quality and cost of their bid was the most competitive compared to the other tenders, including the in-house bid, and will make a saving of £114,000 a year."
Councillor Haken added: "The council wanted to include the kerbside collection of plastic bottles from people's homes in the service, but even the cheapest bidder wanted £1.5 million extra for this service over the duration of the contract. This translates to a 4% rise in council tax on its own."
He explained: "Currently, mixed plastic bottle recycling in the UK is under-developed, costly and creates a big carbon footprint. Bottles collected in High Peak are bulked up in Stockport and sold on the open market, with 70% of our bottles being shipped to China, to be handled by low paid workers. It costs over £1,000 per tonne to empty the bottle banks in the High Peak, we then pay to transport it around the world where it may only achieve a final scrap price of £250 per tonne."
Finally, he said: "I want to thank the Environment Select Committee for their robust and non-partisan approach in making these recommendations."
Paper recycled in the High Peak is bulked up in Ellesmere Port and is turned back into newsprint for the UK market within seven days.
Glass bottles are bulked up and sent to Knottingley in Yorkshire, where they are remade into glass containers.
Aluminium cans are bulked up locally and sent to Warrington, where they are turned into aluminium ingots for re-use in industry.