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Successes For Verdants Municipal Customers

11 November 2010

Three of Verdant's municipal contracts ­­- South Oxfordshire, Surrey Heath and Stratford-on-Avon - have been placed second, third and tenth respectively in Defra's Top Ten Improving Recyclers league for 2009/10, and in Defra's table of the Top Ten Household Recycling and Composting Rates for 2009/10, South Oxfordshire was narrowly placed second with a rate of 61.41 percent, just half a percent behind top-ranked Staffordshire Moorlands District Council. Stratford-on-Avon District Council was placed fifth overall, with a rate of 58.62 percent.

The outstanding performance by the South Oxfordshire scheme has been recognised by the influential Local Authority Recycling Action Committee (LARAC). In early November, it announced that South Oxfordshire had won the annual LARAC Award for most improved recycling rate. However, a contender for the award next year could be Vale of White Horse District Council, a neighbour of South Oxfordshire with whom it jointly partners for a number of shared services, including recycling and waste. Verdant rolled out Vale's new service, modelled on South Oxfordshire's scheme, in October and the results of its first month of operation show it is out-performing South Oxfordshire's first month with a rate closing in on 80 per cent.

Residents of South Oxfordshire have given a firm thumbs-up to the recycling and waste service managed by Verdant. A Citizens Panel research project conducted in July by MEL Research for South Oxfordshire District Council found that 91 percent were satisfied with their new service, 95 percent found it easy to recycle, 97 percent were satisfied with the reliability of the service, and 91 percent were satisfied with street cleanliness after waste had been collected.

At least eight in ten (83 percent) local residents were satisfied with the cleanliness of their local streets and pavements, with 52 percent feeling their local area was as clean as other towns and villages. Overall, out of a maximum five points, South Oxfordshire's Citizens Panel gave a customer satisfaction index of 4.15 for the waste collection service, and 3.7 for local street and pavement cleanliness.

Roger Edwards, managing director of Biffa's municipal division, described the quartet of successes as 'important recognition' of the professionalism and commitment of staff. "Being ranked in official league tables, receiving top awards, and getting the approval of the people who pay our wages is a rare simultaneous honour," he explained. "Add to those the blistering start to Vale's new service, and Verdant has every reason to be very proud of what it does and how it does it."

Verdant is now being integrated with the municipal division of waste and recycling giant Biffa. Edwards is excited by the excellent opportunities that lie ahead for the combined municipal business. "Our service methodology can help councils to make meaningful improvements to their environmental performance while husbanding hard-pressed financial resources," he said.