Haulage and treatment of dry recyclate

Monmouthshire is a county located in South East Wales with a population of approximately 92,000. It is a largely rural county, interspersed with four market towns and a number of villages. The largest town in the county is Abergavenny.

Monmouthshire County Council would like to explore opportunities to work with suitably experienced and established recycling operators to transport and process the 7500 tonnes of dry recycling collected by Monmouthshire County Council.

The material is currently collected as two separate waste streams in single use plastic bags. Paper and card is collected in a red bag, plastic and cans are collected in a purple bag.

Trials to collect these materials loose in reusable polypropylene bags are well advanced and the full roll out of this collection system will be introduced from October 2021 through to February 2022.

The target materials collected will be separated on split-back RCVs and kept separate at the bulking stations for onward transportation. Target materials are:

1. Paper and card – including newspapers, magazines, directories, office paper, junk mail, envelopes, shredded paper, all cardboard including, boxes, packets, corrugated card
2. Plastic and cans – including plastic bottles, tubs, trays, pots, tetrapaks, juice cartons and all steel and aluminium cans and tins including aerosols and aluminium foil and trays.

It is anticipated that a new contract would commence in April 2022 and the successful recycling operator will collect the materials from the Councils two bulking transfer stations, sort the materials, market the materials and dispose of any non-target materials. Collecting and storing the materials separately allows for the market to bid for both or single streams. The council would like to discuss the optimum contract length and review.

Monmouthshire County Council recognises the volatility of the recycling market and would like to discuss a “pain/gain” contract that limits both parties exposure to risks and costs. The proposals for Deposit Return Schemes and Extended Producer Responsibility could impact collection of some materials during the contract period and bring both challenges and opportunities.

Monmouthshire County Council is committed to meeting and exceeding the Welsh Government recycling target of 70% by 2025. There is an expectation that the successful contractor would support the Welsh Government Circular Economy aspirations and seek Welsh markets for reprocessed recyclate wherever possible, deliver against the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and support the Council in achieving its Climate Change Emergency priorities.