Government

Bryson Recycling awarded major Northern Ireland recycling contract

Social enterprise recycling company Bryson Recycling has been awarded a contract to continue delivering kerbside recycling services to over 14,500 homes in the Northern Ireland authority of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council.

The one-year contract, which has an option of an additional two years, will see the company provide the council’s homes with a weekly collection of recyclable materials including paper, glass, plastic, aluminium, cardboard and batteries.

Bryson Recycling awarded major Northern Ireland recycling contract
Heather Moore, Director of Environmental Services at Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, Alderman Tommy Jeffers, Chairman of the Council’s Environmental Services Committee and Bryson Recycling Director Eric Randall
Bryson Recycling currently collects over 60 per cent of homes in Northern Ireland, and commenting on this latest contract win, Eric Randall, Director of Bryson Recycling, said: “We are delighted to have won this contract. We look forward to continuing to deliver a high quality service that not only helps residents recycle as much as possible but also helps the local environment, economy and community.

“We are committed to working with local buyers and over 35 per cent of the materials we collect are recycled in Northern Ireland, helping to support local jobs and the economy. Our services also provide excellent value for money for Councils, and these savings are then passed on the ratepayer”.

Alderman Tommy Jeffers, Chairman of the Council’s Environmental Services Committee added: “For over 14 years Bryson Recycling has been working in the Castlereagh area to collect household recycling from our residents. The council is pleased to see this contract continue and looks forward to working in partnership with them to provide residents with a quality kerbside recycling service, which will deliver measurable environmental benefits.”

This summer, Bryson Recycling was part of a group that published a study stating that kerbside sort systems could be the key to unlocking over £50 million of economic potential of high quality recyclate in Northern Ireland.

A study for the Collaborative Circular Economy Network, led by Bryson and four local manufacturing companies: Cherry Plastics, glass recycler Encirc, paper reprocessor Huhtamaki (Lurgan) and food waste company AgriAD, found that over £110 million worth of economic value is already generated every year from manufacturing new products from recycled paper, plastics and glass.

However, it also found that extra £50 million of unrealised economic potential could be unlocked through available additional capacity if more high-quality recyclate was available locally, an estimate that does not include the value that could be derived from generating biogas from food waste.

The CCEN’s report recommended that in order to source the local material at the quality ‘critical’ to reprocessor, current household waste collections systems would need to take on wheelie boxes or similar containers.

The wheelie box system comprises three stacked recycling boxes, of 55, 55 and 40 litres from bottom to top. All three boxes have slits so that material can be put in without unstacking, and all fit onto a wheeled trolley for increased ease of movement. A similar 'Trolibocs' system is also one of the preferred methods of collection for the Welsh Government.

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