The UK’s largest waste disposal authority has agreed to an eight-year extension to waste and recycling contracts with SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, worth around £1 billion.

Since 2019, when the initial seven-year contract between Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and SUEZ was agreed, the partnership has managed 1.03 million tonnes of waste each year. 

Group Chief Executive to GMCA, Caroline Simpson, praised the work that has been achieved so far, with landfill diversion exceeding 99.8% and HWRC recycling approaching 60%.

Since 2019, recycling has significantly increased, as rates at the authority’s 20 household waste recycling centres have risen from 35% to 58%. The partnership also introduced the Renew Hub – a reuse service that has diverted 260,000 individual items to a network of Renew shops across the nine Greater Manchester boroughs the partnership covers.

Education has also been a priority in the partnership’s strategy, hosting events across the city aimed at schools and young people to teach them about recycling and waste, as well as creating 38 green skills apprenticeships in recycling operations, welding and electrics.

Now the contracts have been extended to 2034, there are more plans to divert waste from landfill, including investment in the energy-from-waste facility at Raikes Lane in Bolton and extensions on what residents can recycle, including pots, tubs and trays.  

Caroline Simpson said, “Waste management in the UK faces several challenges in the future from major policy reform and I have every confidence that GMCA and SUEZ are well placed to meet those challenges.”