$40m Waste & Recycling Contract for SITA in Port Stephens, Australia

Waste and recycling firm, SITA Australia, has secured a 10 year waste collection and haulage contract for residential waste in Port Stephens, near Sydney, New South Wales. The company - a part of Suez Environnment (Paris: SEV, Brussels: SEVB) – said that following the signing of the contract with the Council, Port Stephens’ residents will see new look waste and recycling collection trucks on their streets next year. The AU$40 million ($35 million) multi-year contract will commence on July 1 2015, with new opt-in services and on-call bulky waste collections being offered to residents. According to SITA’s Northern NSW region manager, Leon Grosso, the contract will see a number of initiatives to help improve the kerbside recycling and waste collection service for over 32,000 residents in the area. “SITA will have thirteen new trucks to service the region, including the introduction of a small rear-lift collection truck to access smaller residential streets and retail precincts,” said Grosso. He added that the trucks will all be fitted with GPS and on-board cameras helping drivers to deliver safety and service performance. "The cameras will allow us to observe the types of waste being disposed, monitor contamination and help improve recycling rates,” continued Grosso. The company added that the contract will also provide further employment opportunities in the local area with sixteen staff to be hired before the contract begins mid-next year. Port Stephens waste management coordinator, Aaron Malloy said some of the improved efficiencies in the new contract came from the community public forums and online surveys run by council late last year. “For those residents that told us they needed a larger recycling bin to recycle better and more effectively, they will now be able to opt in to a larger recycling bin for a one-off fee,” Malloy said. “Our residents will also have access to two free on-call kerbside bulky waste collection services each year. What this means is that they won’t have to wait for scheduled collections, but will have the flexibility to choose when their bulky waste is collected,” he added. All general waste collected by SITA will be sent to SITA’s Raymond Terrace Advanced Resource Recovery Technology Facility. The company said that the facility diverts waste from landfill by turning household waste into compost which can be used in rehabilitation projects to replenish severely degraded soils. Bulky kerbside collections will be sorted and separated for recycling and reuse at Council’s Transfer Station. Recyclables will be sent to a third party recycler. Read More Australia Military Waste & Recycling Contract for Veolia Veolia has signed a six year agreement to collect and manage waste and recycling for the Australian Military. Veolia's Australian Landfill-Gas-to-Energy Fish Farm Project A Veolia project in Australia that is using heat from a landfill gas-to-energy facility at a nearby fish farm, has won two Australian Business Awards - for Innovation and Sustainability. The WASP - Taking the Sting out of Sydney's Waste Located alongside one of the world's largest and deepest bioreactor landfills, Veolia's proposed MBT facility 250 km outside of Sydney has had its doubters. Originally given the green light in 2007, the company says that market conditions are now right to proceed. However, a recent redesign means the project requires a new consent and it's also dependent on the delivery of a major new rail terminal in Sydney.