A business trade waste revolution in York city centre as York BID appoints preferred contractor

New trade waste disposal vehicles are set to hit the streets of York in June with the appointment of Forge Recycling as York BID’s recommended supplier, following a tendering process to help ease York’s waste woes.

Cleanliness of the city centre and business support are two of the key challenges that York Business Improvement District was set up to tackle, and executive director Andrew Lowson is confident that the new appointment will address both, saving money and dealing with key waste issues that can undermine efforts to keep the city centre litter free, whilst eliminating waste sent to landfill for companies that sign up.

“City centre businesses face a number of challenges with waste management, and we set out to find a provider that would operate seven days a week and increase the options for recycling, whilst saving businesses money,” explains Andrew.

“The appointment of Forge Recycling as our trade waste partner achieves all of these objectives and more, with new options including recycling of coffee cups and composting of vegware, which fit perfectly with our city centre businesses.”

Saving of 20% 

It is hoped that many city centre businesses will sign up for the scheme, with an average annual saving of around 20% for those who join.

“We have a large number of different providers all navigating York’s narrow streets to service businesses, but we genuinely believe that Forge Recycling’s offer is the best available, so the more companies they serve, the fewer vehicles will be on York’s streets, reducing pollution and congestion in the morning and late afternoon,” comments Andrew.

“Similarly, there should be no reason for waste bags to be left out on the pavement from Friday evening until Monday morning with regular weekend collections, too – something that often clogs up pavements and doorways at the time when we want our city to look the best.”

 To help service the city centre, Forge Recycling is planning to open an additional distribution centre on the outskirts of York. “Environmental awareness sits at the heart of our business, with a wide range of recycling services to minimise the amount of waste that goes to landfill,” says Forge Recycling’s commercial manager, Chris Hale.

“We aim for 100% avoidance of landfill, so our services include food waste collection as well as effective handling of the latest ‘green’ vegware that is increasingly being used by ethical street food providers. Although this decomposes in landfill, it is far better to compost – a service that few companies currently provide.”

Sign up 

As part of the York BID agreement, participating businesses will benefit from economies of scale, with no annual increase in the waste contract price, but possible reductions as more sign up to the service. Businesses will also benefit from one free cardboard bale collection each week.

The tender process was undertaken by York BID with expert support from Eunomia, a company specialising in waste management consultancy, to evaluate each of the bids. 

All businesses in the city centre are eligible to join. For more details, please call 01904 202499 or email yorkbid@forgerecycling.co.uk