Residents in Tendring will be able to recycle more in the future as part of a new multi-million-pound waste contract – while fortnightly collections are set to remain.

Tendring District Council’s (TDC) waste and recycling and street cleaning contracts – which are both currently held by Veolia Environmental Services - are both set to expire early in 2026.

The Council’s Cabinet today (Friday, 26 July) backed proposals to re-tender both the waste and recycling collection and street sweeping services as a single contract and formally adopted a series of principles against which the new service will be set.

The principles include the contract complying with the new Environment Act 2021’s ‘Simpler Recycling’ requirements, which will see a wider range of recyclable materials collected from the kerbside including glass, as well as the contractor acting as a single point of contact for the resolution of customer issues in order to streamline missed collection reporting.

Principles for street sweeping and bin emptying include the service being tailored to target where the need is greatest at any one time rather than being dictated by a prescribed cleaning schedule.

The Council’s Cabinet also recommitted itself to continuing with fortnightly residual waste collection from wheelie bins as opposed to moving to a three-weekly schedule.

For the small number of homes that are unsuitable for wheelie bins, weekly black sack collections would remain.

Mike Bush, TDC Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “We have recommitted to fortnightly collections of residual – black bin – waste, and have welcomed the recent reforms to the recycling system.

“The Council is looking to collect a wider range of recyclable material and we are also committed to environmental sustainability, while providing a cost-effective service.

“The process to design, procure and agree our next waste collection contract, also ensuring it meets the requirements of Simpler Recycling, is a long one but we have now agreed the core principles we want in a future contract, as well as deciding to re-tender both the waste and recycling collection and street sweeping services as a single contract.

“Residents have told us, as part of the consultation into Our Vision – the Council’s corporate plan, that they did not want a reduction in waste collections, and wanted us to explore collecting more materials for recycling.

“The whole process will be guided by the vision, including providing services to residents that they can be proud of, championing our local environment while being financially sustainable and open.”

TDC is a member of the Essex Waste Partnership, which is also delivering a new Essex waste strategy, which is scheduled to be adopted by TDC in September.

The strategy is a high-level strategy linked to national targets and objectives, including the ceasing of sending residual waste to landfill, while maximising waste minimisation, reuse and recycling

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