Agenda item

            Cabinet

1.            Approved the sale of the Council’s commercial waste collection service to Supplier A as identified in Appendix A of, the confidential section of the report

2.            Authorised the Group Director of Resources and the Head of StreetCare to negotiate with Supplier A to conclude the sales process, including the date of the transfer of the business, in the best interests of the Council.

Councillor Robert Benham, Cabinet Member for Environment, introduced the report

Cabinet was reminded that in 2012 the Government amended the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.  This amendment placed a duty on any establishment which collected waste paper, metal, plastic or glass to take all such measures to ensure separate collections of that waste, where such separate collection was technically, environmentally, and economically practicable (TEEP).  This requirement will become effective on 1 January 2015. 

In light of this, the report detailed the commercial waste collection service which the Council currently provided to approximately five hundred and sixty businesses within the borough and explored the implications of changes in legislation which might require the Council to introduce a commercial waste recycling collection service.  In November 2013 (as part of the re-tendering of the waste contract) a market testing exercise had been undertaken to establish the value of the service to private sector waste management companies.

The report set out the results of that exercise to establish the market value of the service to the private sector if the Council were to sell it; the service enhancements such a sale would deliver and the financial implications.

The report proposed that the Council sell its commercial waste collection service. 

Reasons for the decision

The decision to sell the commercial waste service to Supplier A would deliver a one off payment as set out in the exempt section of the report and the opportunity to benefit from an on-going profit share arrangement.  The sale of the service would also protect the Council against the prospect of longer term financial losses and deliver service enhancements.

Other options considered

The option to continue to operate the commercial waste service without rationalising charges with those made by the private sector and not introducing a recycling service had been considered but this could be subject to legal challenge and would not meet customer’s expectations that the Council should offer a recycling service to its business community.

The option to develop and operate a commercial waste and recycling collection service had also been considered but this had been found to be financially unsustainable if offered at competitive market rates in the longer term.

Both these options were therefore rejected.

Cabinet:

1.            Approved the sale of the Council’s commercial waste collection service to Supplier A as identified in Appendix A in the confidential section of the report and

2.            Authorised the Group Director of Resources and the Head of StreetCare to negotiate with Supplier A to conclude the sales process, including the date of the transfer of the business, in the best interests of the Council.