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Stafford Waste Collection Awarded to Biffa

21st September 2007

The responsibility for the collection and recycling of waste for Stafford Borough Council has been retained by Biffa Waste Services.

Biffa fought off competition from seven other companies to secure the £17 million, six-year contract.

Biffa came out top of all the rival bids on both quality of service they could deliver and price. Councillor Stan Highfield, Cabinet Member for Environment and Health at Stafford Borough Council said, "It is very clear that Biffa has, despite competition from another number of tenderers, submitted the "winning bid" not just for the service option which I have selected but also for other service options which were being considered."

The new waste collection service will begin in February 2008 and will introduce changes to the way waste is collected in the Borough. This will seek to increase recycling rates in line with legally binding targets set by Central Government.

The service will introduce a new recycling collection based on successful trials run in the Borough over the last three years. These trials resulted in recycling rates of nearly 60 per cent, compared to 30 per cent for the rest of the Borough.

Biffa's general manager for municipal services, Gary Bowles said, "Having introduced a similar service in Wirral, we increased recycling from 13 per cent to 27.5 per cent in just 12 months. A similar service introduced in Mole Valley, Surrey in 2004, has seen recycling rise from 20.6 per cent to 39.2 per cent."

Staffordshire has to achieve a recycling rate of 40 per cent by 2010. Failure to do so will incur punitive fines, which will impact on Council taxpayers. In addition, landfill is becoming increasingly expensive. Every tonne of household waste that is landfilled is subject to landfill tax, which is an additional burden on council taxpayers. The current rate of landfill tax is £24 per tonne, rising to £48 per tonne in 2010.

"Our aim is to provide a top quality service that is easy for people to use and which improves recycling in Stafford," added Gary. "We are delighted to be continuing our relationship with the Council in making the people of the Borough our top priority."