Reconomy secures waste deal with Karbon Homes – Image from Reconomy
Reconomy has been appointed as Karbon Homes’s waste and recycling partner for around 30,000 of the housing association’s properties across the north-east of England and Yorkshire.
The contract, which began this year, involves waste services management at the housing group’s affordable, social, specialised, shared ownership and market-rented homes.
Reconomy recently started working with Karbon Homes under Covid guidelines. The waste outsourcer’s team mobilised services remotely, with all meetings and reviews being held virtually initially. Waste collections are now under way across the portfolio and already 1,400 tonnes of waste have been collected, and 94.7% of it has been diverted from landfill.
Waste is produced primarily from void properties, responsive maintenance and fly-tipping sites. Reconomy provides direct tipping of mixed general waste services as well as broader waste services, managed on-site solutions and technical and hazardous waste removal. The company said its “robust and thorough approach ensures compliance and raises awareness to stakeholders in the business of segregation and handling processes”.
Use of Reconomy’s tipping app, which digitally enables sites to locate local tipping sites, book services and see all documentation online, has saved time, cost and emissions, said the company. Karbon Homes operatives can book and process all tipping movements without the need to ring or email anyone. The app sends all documentation such as electronic waste transfer notes to the Reconomy Portal, where it can be stored, accessed and downloaded. The app also offers route planning, so that a driver can find which tip site is located near or en route to the next job.
Kevin Martin, Reconomy’s key account manager, said: “In addition to the day-to-day waste services, we have a great deal of expertise and experience to share throughout the contract. Although an outsourced service, our team will act as an in-house support to Karbon Homes relating to all things waste. We are always close to new technologies that are emerging from the industry and, where appropriate, will introduce them to our customers and into future ways of working”.
Mark Thrumble, contracts manager at Karbon Homes, added: “It was important for us to have a single supplier that we could trust to coordinate and manage the waste across our large portfolio of properties. Having a consistent approach is key to optimising our efficiency and ensuring we are staying ahead in terms of improving the way we manage our waste, both from a financial but also an environmental perspective… We have already seen a saving in admin that is involved in managing jobs and the associated paperwork”.
