Contract live to analyse household waste

Scotland Excel’s waste composition analysis framework will help councils take part in a national programme to analyse what people throw away, in a bid to understand how we can send less to landfill.

The framework has been delivered with support from Zero Waste Scotland, the environmental organisation that informs policy, and motivates individuals and businesses to embrace the environmental, economic, and social benefits of a circular economy.

It will give councils who want to take part in the planned Zero Waste Scotland programme easy access to providers who have been through the tender process and are ready to work with them.

Four of the five suppliers on the four-year, first generation framework are Small to Medium Enterprises.

Councillor John Shaw, Scotland Excel’s Convener, said: “We are committed to developing our waste and recycling frameworks to evolve with the needs of our member councils. Reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill has been a key focus of local and national government for some time, and we are delighted our new framework will underpin a national programme that will aim to better understand what households are throwing away.

“The framework will give councils quick and easy access to five suppliers who are ready to do business to work with them to gather their local household waste data. That information can then feed into a shaping national picture, with the overall aim of understanding how Scotland could send less to landfill at a time when the country moves towards a green recovery.”

The framework joins other key frameworks in the Scotland Excel environment portfolio that support councils with their recycling efforts.

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “It’s great to see this framework up and running to allow councils to get vital insight into the make-up of their waste streams. Local authorities will be using the framework to procure suitable contractors and gather valuable data, which will in turn help us to develop a national picture of Scotland’s waste as part of our compositional analysis programme.

It is essential that we understand how waste streams are changing in order to be able to make changes that reduce waste, increase recycling and ultimately create a circular economy for Scotland.”

The five UK-based businesses to be awarded a place onto the framework are:

• Albion Environmental Limited, SME, Ayr
• Alfred H Knight Energy Services Limited, SME, Prescot
• Resource Futures Limited, SME, Bristol
• Integrated Skills Limited, SME, Leeds
• RPS Consulting Services Limited, large business, Abingdon