Recycling and waste collections in Bristol are now undertaken by Bristol Waste Company, a company wholly owned by Bristol City Council. Termination of the previous contract with Kier, formerly known as May Gurney, was by mutual agreement and came after Bristol saw a 4% fall in its recycling rate.

The Council will also be able to exercise more direct control over waste services and a 10 year agreement has been put in place.

Marvin Rees, Labour Mayor of Bristol, said: “One of my key promises to the city has been to launch a Clean Streets Campaign. We need a city wide strategy to tackling problems with littering and fly tipping, and to increase recycling rates. We must work closely with community organisations and schools to promote behaviour change. We have been given a real opportunity to make a difference to Bristol’s streets, and after considering all the facts, we believe that Bristol Waste Company offer us the best chance to achieve our ambitious goals for the city. There is a lot of work to be done, but we hope that a ten year contract will allow us the stability to make serious progress towards tidying up our streets.”

Bristol Waste Company is a limited company, wholly owned by Bristol City Council. As part of the agreement they will be required to submit an annual business plan and their performance will be monitored against a set of performance measures that will be drawn up by April 2017. The Company, as with anything else the Council does, will be subject to scrutiny by Councillors to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.

Thanks to Phil Walsh, a local Labour member, who wrote this article.