New food waste contract could save £1 million across Staffordshire
A new Staffordshire-wide contract for the disposal of food waste could save taxpayers up to £1 million and reduce the amount of rubbish going to incinerators.
Weekly food waste collections will become mandatory for all councils in England next year, as part of a national drive to make recycling simpler.
At the moment, Newcastle Borough Council is the only authority in Staffordshire to collect food waste separately.
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council commingles food waste with garden waste, while other councils ask residents to put it in their general waste bins.
Staffordshire Council is responsible for disposing of all residential waste after it is collected by the districts.
Food waste is currently either sent to an incinerator, a composting facility or an anaerobic digestion plant, depending on how it is collected.
The county council is now looking to procure a Staffordshire-wide contract for food waste processing, ahead of the change in the law next year.
According to a council report, up to 20,000 tonnes of food waste a year could be diverted from incinerators under the new contract, supporting ‘the county’s journey in minimising waste and towards a circular economy’.
It would also generate a saving of between £500,000 and £1 million, depending on how well residents engage with the new service, due to the reduction in residual waste disposal costs.
While the gate fee for food waste disposal could increase over the next 12 months, it is still expected to be less than the fees for residual waste disposal.
A single county-wide contract will also mean lower administration costs.
Cabinet members at the county council will be asked to approve the new procurement strategy when they meet on Wednesday.
Councillor Andrew Mynors, cabinet member for connectivity, said: “This framework for food waste disposal will develop one contract to cover the whole of Staffordshire.
"This means we can comply with national regulations, and also save money in the long-run on administration and contract management costs.
"It also means a unified approach to food waste collection across the county, ending the different systems we currently see.
“We can also encourage our communities to change their behaviour when it comes to waste, and reduce the amount going to energy recovery by around 20,000 tonnes.”
The contract will also cover food waste collected by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
It will be divided into nine lots covering the different waste collection authorities, and it is anticipated that each lot will attract multiple bidders, increasing Staffordshire’s competitiveness in the market.
Anaerobic digestion, which uses micro-organisms to break down organic waste, is an emerging market, and the county council is aiming to secure sufficient capacity ahead of other local authorities.
