VERDANT SECURES FIRST LONDON BOROUGH
WASTE AND RECYCLING CONTRACT

Sevenoaks, Kent, 23 January 2007

Leading independent municipal services contractor Verdant Group plc today announced that it has been awarded preferred bidder status to work on Waltham Forest Council’s new integrated waste and recycling contract. This is the first time that Verdant, in the top five of privately owned independent waste management companies in the UK, has secured a contract with a London borough.  

The award follows an open and transparent tender process and the five-year contract, worth nearly £6 million per annum, is expected to start in April 2007.

Leader of Waltham Forest Council, Clyde Loakes, said: "This is great news for Waltham Forest. This award means that there will be no reduction in this important, high visibility service, and we will be saving borough residents around £600,000 a year. Basically, by combining our recycling and refuse service, we have created efficiencies in terms of management, staff, and transport."

Waltham Forest Cabinet member for the Environment, Cllr Bob Belam, said: "We're very happy from an environmental perspective. In terms of recycling, Verdant has provided plans for achieving a 33% recycling rate in the short term, and a 50% recycling rate in the longer term. This will help the council avoid future landfill tax that could be around £3 million by 2010, a sum which obviously would have had a very negative impact on Waltham Forest Council's finances and borough residents.

"The current waste and recycling services will remain in place until Verdant starts the new contract in the next few months. Any potential changes to the service will be communicated to borough residents with plenty of notice."

Verdant managing director Simon Miles commented: "The exciting news about Waltham Forest's waste and recycling contract rounds off what has been an excellent period for Verdant and, significantly, represents our first local authority customer in the greater London area. We are confident we can help Waltham Forest lift its recycling rate further, which has obvious local and national environmental benefits, and deliver a service of which residents can be proud."

Verdant beat off strong competition from rival submissions, with clear, fully resourced and fully costed proposals for current services and their future development. The company also ranked first in terms of quality and financial evaluation, while community engagement and partnership with the council formed a strong thread throughout its submission.

In the last few months, Verdant has secured significant waste, cleansing and recycling contracts with Swale, South Beds and Rother councils. It has particular expertise in designing and operating recycling services that boost local recycling rates, such as with Melton Borough Council in the East Midlands, which is now achieving a near-50% recycling rate.