Veolia awarded 10-year contract to treat the city's waste and recycling and operate the recycling centres

It follows a competitive tender process and will run until 2034.

The new contract aims to increase recycling rates to 70% at the city’s HRCs and will be achieved by introducing more recycling staff across the sites to help residents recycle more. The introduction of customer surveys will help Veolia identify what works best and the areas of opportunities to help make improvements to the sites and will also help with awareness campaigns where needed. The new contract will see the modernisation of the Castle Bromwich facility and new recycling centres at Perry Barr and Kings Norton which will be accessible and make recycling easier by enhancing its user experience.

In addition to this, there will be a brand new visitor centre where schools and community groups can take part in educational activities that will help raise awareness of the waste hierarchy and how waste can be managed more sustainably. An energy recovery facility providing electricity from waste to the National Grid powering more than the equivalent of 55,000 homes. Two Reuse Shops will also be operating for the duration of the contract.

There will be new transfer stations that are part of the city’s infrastructure upgrades to improve the segregation and efficiency of waste flows and will include provision for food waste management when the legislation comes in.

The new contract doesn’t have a guaranteed minimum tonnage for non-recyclable waste meaning the city has scope to segregate and recycle more waste at the kerbside.

Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment at Birmingham City Council, said: “As a council and city we are determined to achieve our net zero goal for the benefit of all residents. Improved recycling and low carbon energy are key parts of our strategy so I am pleased we have agreed a contract that puts this front and centre. Increasing recycling rates to 70 per cent at the HRCs is a big target but we need to be ambitious and I’m confident the people of this city will work with us to achieve this when we provide the means and support.”

Gavin Graveson, Senior Executive Vice-President at Veolia, said: “We are delighted to continue working with Birmingham City Council and to carry on providing a first-class service to the residents to find solutions to the materials they discard every day, whether that is recycling them into new products or generating secure electricity supplies for the National Grid.

“We look forward to sharing our extensive experience for a sustainable future as we support the city to achieve net zero by 2030. We have some key projects planned for the new contract which will enable Birmingham residents to join Veolia and Birmingham City Council on the journey towards Ecological Transformation.”