Croydon Council is set to secure a new recycling and waste management contract, after listening to concerns from residents, that improves the image of our borough and provides more reliable services for our residents.

The terms for procuring the new contract, which includes recycling and general waste collection, garden waste, food waste, bulky waste collections, fly-tip removal, and street cleaning, were agreed by Cabinet at a meeting on Wednesday.

The council has been listening to residents’ concerns and carried out a six-week consultation earlier this year to give people the chance to give their views on bin collections and street cleaning services, and what Croydon should aim to prioritise in any new contract.

This feedback has been used, together with feedback from community engagement since May last year, to help design a set of expectations for what quality of service the council will be looking for from potential bidders. Executive Mayor Jason Perry has also been clear that the council will be taking a greater focus on contract management within any new agreement to enable the council to hold contractors to account if they underperform.

Croydon has been in a contract with Veolia since 2017, along with three other councils in the South London Waste Partnership – Kingston, Merton and Sutton. Mayor Perry confirmed the council would not continue within the existing terms so is ending the contract in 2025, as are the other councils in the partnership. By getting a new, individual deal for Croydon, the council can better design a service to meet the specific needs of the borough.

The council will be working to ensure the new contract provides better value for residents, whilst focusing on promoting increased recycling performance, proactively tackling fly-tipping across the borough and providing a consistent bin collection service for residents. The council will also be using data to target hotspot areas where extra efforts are needed for fly-tipping or other clear-up operations.

Jason Perry

“I want Croydon to be a place all residents and businesses can feel proud to call home and clean, safe streets must be the starting point for that.

“This new contract is an opportunity for the council to listen to local people, and to shape a new service that delivers what residents need – efficient, waste collections, thorough street cleansing, efficient contract management, and good value to the Croydon taxpayer.

“I look forward to continuing to listen to residents and businesses as we develop the new service, and to working with our new provider to make sure they deliver a good, reliable service for Croydon.”

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon