Allerdale Waste Services Limited (AWSL) – wholly owned by Allerdale Borough Council – will now deliver waste and recycling services in Allerdale in Cumbria.
AWSL will now provide household waste and recycling collections and trade waste services across the borough. The company takes over services from Northampton-based operator FCC Environment, whose contract ended last week.
The council said that bringing the services in-house would give the administration greater control over how the service is run and the flexibility to adapt to proposed government changes to waste collection services in coming years.
Residents should see no changes to their collections, however, the council said they “should be mindful that during the coronavirus outbreak there may be temporary changes to services in order to keep workers safe and protect certain collections, such as household refuse”. Garden waste collections were suspended on March 20 for this reason.
Mike Johnson, deputy leader of Allerdale council, said: “I would like to commend our officers for all their hard work in getting Allerdale Waste Services up and running. This has been a huge project and our hard work will continue in the coming months to make sure that we deliver the service our residents expect.”
Tony Markley, executive member for environmental services, said: “The decision to bring our waste service in-house through the council-owned company was designed to make sure our residents received the best service possible. We’re determined this venture will be a success, but please bear with us over the coming weeks and months as we operate the service through some uncertain times due to the coronavirus response.”