May Gurney wins Bristol City waste collection contract

May Gurney has introduced a mixed plastics kerbside collection service for Bristol City Council in a bid to help it meet ambitious zero waste targets by 2014.


The service, which started today (November 1), involves rolling out a weekly mixed plastic recycling service for more than 180,000 households and is expected to save the council around £2.5m a year.

It is anticipated that the seven-year contract will help the authority reach its goal of sending zero ‘untreated waste’ to landfill within three years.

As part of the scheme, the existing black wheeled bins used by households will be replaced with small 180 litre bins to encourage participants to recycle more. Food waste will be collected in one truck, with separate vehicles collecting dry recyclable items or residual waste.

May Gurney’s managing director for environmental services, Nicola Peake, said: “We have worked with the council to design a scheme that will reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and achieve the best results by increasing local recycling rates.

“The phasing in of plastic recycling collections will see new purpose built vehicles introduced that have five compartments on the side for crews to separate different types of materials.”

According to the council, by July 2012, all householders in Bristol will have mixed plastics and Tetrapak collections on the kerbside, alongside their existing recycling collections.

Bristol City cabinet member for strategic waste, Gary Hopkins, said: “This is a flagship contract that sets high standards for May Gurney as well as financially incentivising the company to find ways to reduce household waste and increase our recycling levels.”

Carys Matthews

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