News & Media > Environmental Services
23:06:2010
TOR2 to start delivering in mid-July
TOR2 will take over operational delivery of the following services in Torbay:
• Waste and recycling collections
• Management of the Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC) and waste transfer station
• Maintenance of Torbay’s highways, grounds, parks, car parks, public toilets, other buildings and the council's vehicle fleet
• Street and beach cleansing
• Out of hours call centre support
TOR2 is an innovative Joint Venture Company, owned by May Gurney (80%) and Torbay Council (20%)), that will deliver service improvements and value for money.
Torbay Council chose May Gurney as its partner because it offers an innovative and integrated service with significant benefits to Torbay and its residents. These benefits include savings of £10m over 10 years, new employment opportunities and a sustainable business approach which will lead to a 30,000 tonne annual reduction in carbon - the equivalent of taking 10,000 cars off the road.
TOR2 will also be seeking sustainable growth opportunities to provide a similar broad range of services to third party customers within Torbay and the surrounding region.
Major improvements to the recycling and waste services are coming into operation from 6 September 2010, to help Torbay residents increase recycling and reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfill sites. Residents will be able to recycle up to 85% of their waste and all residents will be able to recycle the same materials. These service improvements will include:
• A weekly collection of recycling from all households in Torbay
• An increased range of weekly recyclable materials collected at kerbside
• A new weekly kitchen waste recycling collection
• New recycling containers (two recycling boxes, a kitchen caddy and kitchen waste bin) to replace the current large green wheelie bin for recycling, enabling better and more flexible storage of recyclable items
• Same day collection for recycling and residual waste for the majority of households, making it easy to remember collection days
• Fortnightly residual waste collections for those with space for a residual bin
• Improvements to the Tor Park Road HWRC to increase quantities of materials recycled and improve the customer experience
For people living in flats with shared recycling facilities there will also be improvements to recycling collections over the coming months, which will include an increased range of materials collected and a new weekly collection of kitchen waste.
TOR2 will provide Torbay with a first-class, flexible and cost efficient recycling and waste service to ensure the council can reach its recycling target of 50% by 2017.
Torbay’s current recycling rate is 35.7% and TOR2 is confident the 50% target is entirely achievable. In areas such as Somerset where similarly comprehensive recycling services have been introduced, recycling rates have exceeded 60%.
With the introduction of the waste and recycling service change, other TOR2 services will be rescheduled to compliment overall delivery including changes in current street cleansing schedules to ensure a total integrated package.
Nick Bye, mayor of Torbay, said: “May Gurney has a proven track record in the delivery of frontline services in partnership with other local authorities.
“I am delighted that after a rigorous process they have been selected to work with Torbay Council on this major project.”
Philip Fellowes-Prynne, chief executive of May Gurney, said: "We are delighted to have been selected by Torbay Council for this ground-breaking JVC and are very much looking forward to working together to deliver better services across the region.
“May Gurney is an expert at developing solid long-term relationships with its clients where genuine collaboration is crucial - especially to design and deliver such a wide range of front-line services, which are essential to local communities. This core expertise will be critical to the success of our innovative new partnership with Torbay Council."
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