News Changes to bin collections for Maidstone residents
From Monday 25 March 2024 changes are being made to some of Maidstone’s waste, recycling and garden collections.
The changes are being introduced as Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) starts a new waste and recycling contract with SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd.
Changes will be made to some routes which means that some collection days are being altered. To keep them up to date, residents across the borough will receive round confirmation before Thursday 21 March. There is no need for residents to contact the Council; all residents will receive this information in writing, in good time before changes come into effect.
Food waste will continue to be collected every week on the same day as waste and recycling. More information about the service, can be found on the MBC website:www.maidstone.gov.uk
Ashford, Maidstone and Swale councils – which work together as the Mid Kent Waste Partnership, have worked hard to seek a new waste contractor to improve the service and has awarded the eight-year contract to SUEZ after a detailed joint tender process.
The new waste contract, which begins on 25 March, will introduce new technology and industry improvements, whilst retaining large parts of the existing service, including many of the staff and collection crews staying the same.
Cllr Patrik Garten, MBC Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, commented:
Maidstone collects 17,000 bins every day and MBC is pleased to welcome the new waste contractor to oversee this delivery. The state-of-the-art new fleet will have better telematics, live tracking and CCTV to alert managers at SUEZ and MBC in real-time if, and when, problems occur. This also includes smaller vehicles which will be better equipped to assist in areas that we know have access issues.As with any project of this scale, there will be unforeseen start-up problems, for which we apologise in advance, but we are prepared to face them, and we will endeavour to deliver the best possible service for our residents.
The new contract will also offer the chance to increase recycling rates across the three boroughs, improved efficiency of the collection routes, lower emissions vehicles and better technology to keep residents up to date.
The total Mid Kent Waste Contract arrangement is for £19 million per year which equates to a cost of £5m for Maidstone Borough Council.
Maidstone’s street cleansing service will remain in-house as part of the existing MBC waste team.