Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has extended its contract with Acumen Distribution until 2016.
Acumen provides kerbside collection of recyclable household waste and in the past eight months the kerbside recycling rate had risen from 26 per cent to 55 per cent.
It collects an average of 33 tonnes of food waste each week, which would otherwise be sent for incineration as well as over 167 tonnes of dry recyclables. The food waste is being turned into electricity and the recyclate is reprocessed in the UK.
Under the new contract, the council has expanded its agreement with Acumen to include the collection of recyclables from Newcastle-under-Lyme’s 15 bring sites.
Acumen has assigned two compacter trucks for this additional recycling work to provide weekly collections at the bring sites for a wide range of recyclable materials including plastic bottles, paper and glass and metals. For the remaining four days, it will maintain its kerbside collections of recyclable household waste.
All recyclables are taken to Acumen Distribution’s waste transfer station in Burslem where paper, card, plastics, cans, glass, textiles and food waste is weighed and sorted. The company collects the household recyclates using nine trucks. These include five Terberg kerbside vehicles on Dennis Eagle chassis, two Mitsubishi 7.5 tonne light vehicles for rural collections and difficult access and two twin pack compactor vehicles which will also be collecting recyclables from the bring sites.
“Our partnership with Acumen Distribution has resulted in the council saving money, reducing CO2 emissions and providing our residents with a first rate service”, said Trevor Nicoll, head of recycling and fleet services at Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. “The Council therefore had no hesitation in extending our contract with Acumen Distribution until 2016.”