Severnside has won a contract to manage the waste produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) from its 157 sites.
Announced at waste management conference Futuresource today (16 June), Severnside will handle a variety of materials including paper, electronics, food and other waste through its 15 regional recycling facilities.
Support service firm Interserve tendered the contract on behalf of Defra. Interserve’s Nikki Greening said: “Severnside’s dedication to landfill diversion was fundamental to its appointment. It is very important that Defra actively take steps to improve our own sustainability when its role is to encourage everyone else to do the same.”
Initially, Severnside will carry out a waste audit, analysing the waste collected from Defra’s sites to understand exactly which materials are produced in order to develop the most sustainable solutions. The waste audit will determine exactly how much waste Defra produces, however according to Severnside national commercial manager for sales and marketing Tim Price, it is thought to be a “significant” tonnage.
He added: “For us, it is a superb win because it is great to be endorsed by Defra. It will positively challenge us, in the same way our contracts with retailers have. It’s possible we will find solutions to deal with the waste that we may not have used before.”
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