The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has signed new operating contracts with SUEZ for the management of Greater Manchester’s waste and resources.
SUEZ will manage 1.1 million tonnes of municipal waste from over one million households across nine Greater Manchester boroughs with a combined contract value of over £1 billion. The GMCA will work with SUEZ to focus on significantly increasing recycling rates and diverting over 96% of Greater Manchester’s municipal waste from landfill.
The two contracts include the operation of 41 facilities over 24 sites, including four mechanical treatment and rail head reception facilities, 20 household waste recycling centres, eight transfer loading stations, the Bolton thermal recovery facility and a materials recovery facility.
The contracts will run for an initial seven years, with options to extend for a further three, and then five years.
SUEZ will offer residents improvements to their household waste recycling centres and will also recycle a wider range of items, including carpets and mattresses.
There are no changes planned to resident’s household waste and recycling collection services, which will continue to be delivered by the nine borough councils.
Waste services were previously provided by Viridor Laing under a PFI contract with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) which was terminated in 2017 over concerns that costs were running out of control.
Cllr Allison Gwynne, Chair of the GMCA Waste and Recycling Committee, said: “We are extremely pleased with the result of the procurement process and are confident that our new partnership with SUEZ will provide opportunities to enable us to increase recycling of household waste which is key to moving towards a more circular economy. This is another step towards making Greater Manchester one of the leading Green city-regions in the UK.”
