STRATFORD-ON-AVON, HOME OF SHAKESPEARE, APPOINTS VERDANT
Sevenoaks, Kent, 15 December 2007 – Municipal services contractor Verdant Group plc is set to close a ‘momentous’ year with the award of a seven year waste, recycling and street cleansing contract by Stratford-on-Avon District Council.
The news follows hard on the heels of Verdant winning the Best Partnership Project category of the 2007 National Recycling Awards (for its Arun Green Waste Club scheme), and being acquired by fast-growing waste and recycling management and processing specialist company Greenstar UK.
Stratford-on-Avon District Council has confirmed that Verdant will start the street cleansing element of the new contract in April 2008, while waste and recycling services will start in August. The seven year contract could run until 2022 as it includes the option for a seven year extension from 2015. Verdant currently operates the district’s cleansing service.
The current service comprises weekly collection of residual waste in black sacks, fortnightly kerbside collection of recyclables, and fortnightly collection of green waste. The district’s recycling rate for 2005 / 06 is around 40%, and the council would like to beat the government-mandated target of 45% by 2015.
Three bin service
Scheme changes to be designed and implemented by Verdant will see residents having three wheeled bins: grey for fortnightly kerbside collection of waste; blue for fortnightly kerbside collection of paper, cardboard, tins, glass and plastic bottles; and a green bin for fortnightly collection of green waste. Implementation of the new scheme will be preceded by a major local resident communications campaign.
The service will include collection of recyclables from the council’s nine mini recycling centres across the district. Verdant will deploy nearly 100 staff and 37 vehicles, administered from the Avenue Farm Road depot.
Located in South Warwickshire, Stratford-on-Avon is one of the largest English districts geographically, covering some 979 square kilometres, and with a population of around 119, 000 residents in 52,500 households. Some 23,000 people live in Stratford-upon-Avon, home to the Royal Shakespeare Company and a popular tourist destination with over 3½ million visitors annually.
Rated as ‘good’ by the Audit Commission in October 2007, Stratford-on-Avon District Council is bidding for World Heritage status.
Sustainable community goal
Councillor Simon Jackson, Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “One of our key objectives is sustainable communities, and continuing to improve the district’s environmental performance is central to that ambition. Verdant’s record in providing high street cleansing standards in the past, coupled with its operational proposals for making waste and recycling services even better, convinced us that it should be our preferred partner
“The new service will save residents over £400,000 annually. We want to achieve excellence in service standards and delivery, and are confident that Verdant will help us reach that goal.”
Simon Miles, Verdant Group managing director, added: “We’ve enjoyed a strong relationship with Stratford-on-Avon through our street cleansing service, and are delighted to be awarded the larger contract. Integrating all operational aspects of cleansing, waste and recycling will achieve important efficiencies and economies of scale, and our local knowledge and proven expertise in helping local authorities raise their environmental standards will be put to good use in the district.
“This has been a momentous year for Verdant as we started five new contracts during 2007, won a major industry award, and recently joined forces with Greenstar UK to expand our service offering for the municipal market. It’s a crowning achievement to be awarded the Stratford-on-Avon contract.”
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About Verdant
Verdant Group plc, part of the Greenstar UK group, provides waste collection, recycling and cleansing services for an expanding local authority customer base in England and Wales. It makes an estimated 20 million-plus waste and recycling collections annually on behalf of its 20 current local authority customers. Recent additions to its portfolio include a seven year waste, recycling and cleansing contract for Stratford-on-Avon District Council; seven year cleansing, waste and recycling contracts for Rother District Council and Swale Borough Council; a seven year recycling, refuse and cleansing contract for South Buckinghamshire District Council; and, as its first London borough contract, a six year waste collection and recycling service for Waltham Forest Council. During 2007, Verdant also started a six year management contract for seven of Kent County Council’s 12 household waste recycling centres. Other current local authority customers include Melton, Anglesey, Gosport, Mid Bedfordshire, South Bedfordshire, Bridgend, South Oxfordshire, Chiltern, Arun, Surrey Heath, Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe. The Verdant-operated Arun Green Waste Club won the Best Partnership Project category at the 2007 National Recycling Awards, and Verdant also won the Best Commitment to Health & Safety Practice category of the 2005 National Recycling Awards.
For further media information, contact:
Blair Drummond, Verdant PR consultant – tel (m) 07798 686 217, email blair.drummond@btopenworld.com
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