Birmingham City Council pledges less landfill with new waste contract

BIRMINGHAM City Council has said a new contract with a Midlands-based waste management firm will reduce the amount it has to pay in landfill tax and save residents money.

Following a six-month tender process, the local authority has appointed Cheltenham-based Printwaste Recycling & Shredding to manage its confidential shredding requirements for the next four years.

The company, which employs 52 people across three sites, is now working with the council to improve its confidential waste destruction operation. The contract covers 65 council facilities across Birmingham and is designed to support the authority’s environmental commitment.

Cllr James McKay, cabinet member for a Green, Safe and Smart City at Birmingham City Council, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to secure a contractor with environmental ambitions that match those of the city council. Any waste that we landfill is an added cost to the taxpayer, so the solution offered by this contract means we avoid this and provide excellent value for the taxpayer.”

Printwaste was audited for its security credentials, together with associated factors such as cost and efficiency, as well as enhancing internal recycling practices.

The company’s approach is to ensure office paper can be effectively recycled for re-use as office paper, rather than as tissue paper or going to landfill. It said this helped to minimise the amount of paper sent for landfill.

Don Robins, director of Printwaste, said: “This important contract highlights our strengths in secure shredding and data destruction and further demonstrates our growing market share in the Birmingham and West Midlands areas.”

The contract includes use of Printwaste’s fleet of mobile shredding vehicles for on-site shredding, while off-site shredding will be at its high security data destruction and recycling facility.