Suez receives waste management contract from Manchester, UK

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in the United Kingdom has signed new operating contracts with Suez UK, Berkshire, U.K., to manage Greater Manchester’s waste and resources. Receipt of the contract follows an 18-month procurement process.

Under the program, Suez will manage 1.1 million metric tons of municipal waste from more than 1 million households across nine Greater Manchester boroughs with a combined contract value of greater than £1 billion ($1.27 billion).

The GMCA says it expects as much as 96 percent of Greater Manchester’s waste to be diverted from landfills.

The two contracts Suez was awarded include the operation of 41 facilities over 24 sites, including four mechanical treatment and railhead reception facilities, 20 household waste recycling centers, eight transfer loading stations, the Bolton thermal recovery facility and a material recovery facility (MRF). Suez also will add old carpet and mattresses to the recyclables collected.

Allison Gwynne, chair of the GMCA Waste and Recycling Committee, says, “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 U.K.”

GMCA had been contracted with Viridor Waste, which also bid on the new contract, which went into effect June 1.