Manchester’s waste collection and street cleaning services contract will be awarded to Biffa Municipal Ltd and the company will now carry out the work for the next eight years.
The move is being made, say the council, to ensure the work can be carried out more efficiently, as a single consistent team of workers will now be responsible for collecting waste and recycling as well as keeping streets clean.
It follows a large city wide deep clean which is taking place in district centres across the city, paid for by the City Council’s £14.5m Clean City fund, which is aimed at improving the environment of Manchester.
It also follows a campaign to crack down on litter in the city centre, in which the City Council provided more than 600 new bins and arranged for an enforcement team, who have now issued around 1,400 fixed penalty notices to people who were spotted dropping litter since they started work at the end of last year.
The waste collection contract was previously held by Manchester Enterprise, while street cleansing work was carried out by City Council employees. However, everyone involved in the work will be moved over keeping their pay and conditions and no jobs will be lost.
Councillor Bernard Priest, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, said: “This its a straightforward tender procurement exercise, not a change of policy for the City Council. We’ve outsourced services before but we only do so when it’s the best interests of the people of Manchester, and that we can get the best possible, most cost effective deal for the people of Manchester.
“We’ve included street cleaning in the contract because it makes a lot of sense to have both pieces of work carried out by the same team, and this is part of our long term strategy for transforming the cleanliness of Manchester.
“We’re currently spending a large part of the Clean City fund on a major deep clean of Manchester’s neighbourhoods, but as that comes to an end the new contract will come into effect and enable us to keep those streets clean.
“However, we still require the ongoing support of the people of Manchester, the overwhelming majority of whom are proud of their neighbourhoods and want to help us keep our streets clean by not dropping litter.”
Pete Dickson, Biffa Municipal’s commercial director, said: “Winning the contract for Manchester, one of England’s largest and highest profile cities, is a real feather in Biffa’s cap, and we look forward to working with the city for many years to come.
“Biffa is totally committed to providing the city’s residents with quality recycling, refuse and street cleansing services, that aim to help drive up Manchester’s recycling rate and reinforce its green credentials.”
