Leading international waste management business, Shanks Group plc ('Shanks' or 'the Company'), today announces that it has been appointed by Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council to help both authorities achieve significant improvements in their recycling rates while also reducing costs for residents.
Under the six year contract with Bedford Borough Council, Shanks will manage all of the local authority's black bin waste - amounting to 50,000 tonnnes per annum - which has previously been sent to landfill and incineration. From the beginning of October, Shanks will use its mechanical and biological treatment ('MBT') plant at Frog Island in London to remove recyclable materials from the waste, delivering recycling and landfill diversion rates in excess of 70%. The MBT process will produce solid recovered fuel (SRF), which is used in energy generation and is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel.
Central Bedfordshire Council has also appointed Shanks to manage its municipal waste. Under an initial two and half year contract, Shanks will utilise its Frog Island MBT plant to recycle and treat black bin waste - amounting to 26,000 tonnes per annum - that was previously sent to landfill or incinerated, again delivering diversion rates in excess of 70%.
Ian Goodfellow, UK MD of Shanks, said: "We are delighted to have secured the contracts with Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire councils, both of which endorse Shanks' sustainable approach to processing and recycling waste, while at the same time delivering cost effective waste management solutions for local authorities."
Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said: "I have always been opposed to mass burn incineration and landfill and I am delighted after years of hard work that we will now see our waste being recycled and processed in a way which will deliver an immediate increase in our recycling rates while also generating outstanding savings for residents."