District Matters

Recycling Services

August 2021

Life has been very interesting since my last Leader's column, by which I really mean fraught. The fire at the recycling centre at Ettington has caused us a massive amount of work and a lot of headaches. It is well worth restating some of the basics. Stratford District Council outsources its waste collection contract to Biffa; in turn Biffa outsources the recycling to Pure, the operator of the Ettington site. This means that there are two contracts between the parties involved. This will be a bonus for lawyers.

From our point of view, as a District Council, the overwhelming priority was to get the recycling service back up and running. This meant that we had to take the initiative to finding a solution quickly without sending material either to landfill or to incineration. We were successful in doing that and only lost eight days of collections.

The solution that is currently in place, however, is only a temporary one for three months. It is also very expensive, something those few people who ask for a refund may wish to contemplate. Operationally, the solution is far more challenging because it involves lorries travelling greater distances to sites to deposit the recycling they have collected.

We are now actively working on a longer term, and hopefully cheaper, solution to come into effect in November.

Just to complicate matters ever so slightly, together with Warwick District Council, SDC is in the process of negotiating a new waste contract to commence in July 2022. We are also a member of the partnership that is building a new Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Coventry. This should come on stream at the end of the second quarter 2023. Given the aftershocks of Covid-19 for building materials supply chains, this may well be late. The intention had been that between July 2022 and the MRF coming on stream, recycling would be done at the Ettington site. So, the upshot is that we need a solution, or solutions, that take us through to end of 2023, without costing a massive amount. Life never seems to be easy.

Since putting the contract with Biffa in place six years ago, the whole waste and recycling market has changed massively. Disposing of waste has become much more expensive. Residents have been protected from this for the duration of the current contract.

There is some good news though. Amazon is opening its site on the boundary with Stratford District at Redditch. Recruitment for about 500 jobs begins this month. Ideally, Amazon likes to recruit people from within a fifteen mile radius. This will provide job opportunities for residents in the Studley, Alcester and Bidford areas. This project has been in the pipeline for over three years. It demonstrates just how long it can take for the efforts on inward investment to pay dividends.

Meanwhile, on the Wellesbourne campus, Group Lotus has now established its Advanced Technology Centre and will initially employ 130 engineers. This facility represents a new partnership between Group Lotus and Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick. Lotus Engineering, the consultancy division of Group Lotus, will also be based there. There will be the capacity for many new jobs as the facility expands.

Here's what they said about moving into the District: “The new Lotus Advanced Technology Centre is located on the University of Warwick's Wellesbourne Campus, and has been established in partnership with WMG at the University of Warwick. The new facility allows Lotus to further strengthen their unique capabilities by attracting and retaining the highest calibre employees from the Midlands area. With close links to the Headquarters in Hethel, the new facility gives Lotus an additional delivery capability for their sports car programmes and a more central engineering offering close to their key engineering customers. The substantial facility consists of offices, workshops and laboratories with ample space for expansion."

I visited Group Lotus at its headquarters at Hethel in Norfolk last month and met, amongst other senior staff, the CEO. They were extremely positive about their future in Wellesbourne. I should add that since becoming Leader, we have developed a close and productive working relationship with the University of Warwick.

The inward investment of firms such as Amazon and Group Lotus add to the job opportunities for residents of the District. This underpins and potentially enhances the prosperity of the District. It also enables us to look to the economic future of the District with greater confidence as we emerge from the dark shadow of Covid-19.