QUESTION & ANSWERS
Introduction
Yorwaste has entered into a new contract to collect, process and sell recyclable
material on behalf of councils in Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate and Richmondshire.
The contract was procured in behalf of the authorities by the York and North
Yorkshire Waste Partnership.
The following Question & Answer (Q&A) sheet is designed to give you an overview
of this contract
Q1. Who are Yorwaste?
Yorwaste is a private recycling and waste management company with operations
based across Yorkshire, providing recycling and waste services to local businesses,
householders and local councils. We are owned by, but run independently from,
North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council.
Employing 241 staff, Yorwaste specialises in creating environmentally sound waste
management and recycling solutions for its customers across the UK. We see waste
as a resource that, wherever possible, needs to be recovered and re-used and to
this end we invest continually in the latest state-of-the-art technologies to facilitate
this recovery.
Q2. What is the York & North Yorkshire Waste Partnership?
The York and North Yorkshire Waste Partnership (also known as YNYWP) was first
formed in 1998 and brings together the nine councils in the area: North Yorkshire
County Council, City of York Council, Craven District Council, Hambleton District
Council, Harrogate Borough Council, Richmondshire District Council, Ryedale
District Council, Scarborough Borough Council and Selby District Council.
The Partnership manages municipal waste (that is all waste under the control of a
local authority) by carrying out collections from homes and by providing household
waste recycling centres, which are run by North Yorkshire County Council. The
ultimate objective of the Partnership is to increase the levels of reuse, recycling and
composting and reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.
Q3. What is the new contract about?
Four members of the York & North Yorkshire Waste Partnership – Craven District
Council, Hambleton District Council, Harrogate Borough Council and Richmondshire
District Council - were jointly seeking to appoint a contractor to collect, process and
sell the recyclable material the councils collect from your homes. In relation to
Hambleton and Harrogate this also includes bring banks, which you normally see
situated near supermarkets. Yorwaste was awarded a three-year contract to provide
this service for these councils following a competitive tendering process.
Q4. When did the contract start?
Yorwaste began providing this service in Hambleton and Richmondshire in January
2012 and in Craven and Harrogate in April 2012.
Q5. What is the aim of the contract?
The main aim of the contract is to increase the amount of household waste sent for
recycling and maximise the value of this waste. By increasing recycling, more waste
will be diverted from landfill, which has major environmental and cost saving
benefits.
Q6. How does the contract work?
Recyclable materials such as cans, plastic bottles, paper, card, cardboard and glass
are collected and taken to Yorwaste recycling facilities in York and Catterick where
they are sorted and baled. The materials are then sold, through re-processers,
ensuring that, where possible, there will be a UK-based outlet for all materials arising
from this contract.
Q7. Where will the recycling go?
Details of where the different material will go, along with website links to the reprocessing companies, can be viewed on the dedicated recycling contract page on
the Yorwaste website.
Q8. Does this just relate to household waste?
Predominantly yes, but Yorwaste will also be collecting recycling that is left in bring
banks in the Hambleton and Harrogate council areas.
Q9. How much waste will be collected and processed?
In total, across the four local authority areas, Yorwaste will receive around 27,000
tonnes of material per year.
Q10. How much money will the councils receive as part of the contract?
Whilst recycling markets are subject to change Yorwaste has guaranteed a price for
the material and it is estimated over the course of the contract will bring income of
over £3 million to the four authorities.
Q11. Are there plans to add more materials to the collections?
As part of the contract Yorwaste has pledged to investigate the collection of other
waste streams, such as cardboard and different varieties of plastic containers, e.g.
yoghurt pots, which do not currently form part of kerbside collections. Cardboard is
however collected on the kerbside in Craven District.
Q12. Why can’t other plastics be collected as part of this contract?
There is currently no viable market in the UK for the plastic types which make up
items such as yoghurt pots and food trays. There are about 50 different types of
plastic, the most common and easily recycled being plastic bottles, so at present we
are concentrating on collecting as many of these as possible. In the near future it is
hoped the UK will have comprehensive infrastructure for the collection, sorting and
reprocessing of other types of plastic, such as trays, tubs and films, and when this
happens we will look further at other waste streams like this.
Q13. Why is cardboard collected from kerbsides in Craven but not Hambleton,
Harrogate and Richmondshire?
At present Hambleton, Harrogate and Richmondshire councils do not have the
capacity to collect cardboard due to vehicle restrictions and resourcing requirements.
Options are being considered by these authorities for extending the range of
recycled materials collected at the kerbside.
Q14. Will other waste, such as food waste, ever be included as part of this
contract?
At present there are no plans to collect food waste from kerbsides in the four council
areas. As a country we are moving towards making it easier for people to recycle
other waste streams and further reducing the amount of unnecessary waste that
goes to landfill, so this could change in the future but it would be up to each
individual authority to decide whether collection services are viable.
Q15. Where can I get more information about the contract?
Information about the contract is available from the local authority and Yorwaste
websites. The addresses are:
www.hambleton.gov.uk
www.richmondshire.gov.uk
www.harrogate.gov.uk
www.cravendc.gov.uk
www.yorwaste.co.uk/the-waste-place/recycling-partnership/