GMCA appoints SUEZ as contractor for Greater Manchester’s waste and resources management services

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has signed new operating contracts with SUEZ for the management of Greater Manchester’s waste and resources, following an 18 month procurement process.

SUEZ will manage 1.1 million tonnes of municipal waste from over one million households across nine Greater Manchester boroughs with a combined contract value of over £1 billion. The GMCA will work with SUEZ to focus on significantly increasing recycling rates and diverting over 96% of Greater Manchester’s municipal waste from landfill.

The two contracts include the operation of 41 facilities over 24 sites, including four mechanical treatment and rail head reception facilities, 20 household waste recycling centres, eight transfer loading stations, the Bolton thermal recovery facility and a materials recovery facility. 

SUEZ will offer residents improvements to their household waste recycling centres and will also recycle a wider range of items, including carpets and mattresses.

There are no changes planned to resident’s household waste and recycling collection services, which will continue to be delivered by the nine borough councils. 

Cllr Allison Gwynne, Chair of the GMCA Waste and Recycling Committee, said: "We are extremely pleased with the result of the procurement process and are confident that our new partnership with SUEZ will provide opportunities to enable us to increase recycling of household waste which is key to moving towards a more circular economy. This is another step towards making Greater Manchester one of the leading Green city-regions in the UK."

David Palmer-Jones, Chief Executive of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said: "We are delighted to be working with the GMCA and were inspired by their visionary approach to ensuring that the contracts deliver environmental improvements and added social value for Greater Manchester.

"We have made over 50 social value commitments and are particularly excited about how our plans for funds raised through re-use initiatives will benefit the Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity and other community projects across the city-region. We very much look forward to playing our part in helping deliver the ‘Five Year Environment Plan’ for Greater Manchester."

SUEZ was confirmed as preferred tenderer in March 2019 and has been preparing to take over operations from the current contractor, Viridor Waste (Greater Manchester) Ltd, when the new contracts commence on Saturday 1 June. Existing staff working at the sites will transfer to SUEZ.

Article Published: 31/05/2019 13:55 PM