With picture L to R : Dave Sheppard, Technical Support Manager, SFS; Cllr Cartwright, Chair of the Direct Services Organisation Board, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council; Cllr Crooks, Lead Member – Waste and Street Cleansing, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council; Matt Horwell, Sales Manager, Dennis Eagle; and Michael Brymer, Chief Officer, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council
FOLLOWING recent public consultation Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council is ringing in the changes with the launch of their new refuse and recycling collection service this month. To facilitate the new service the authority is replacing its existing Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCV’s) with a brand new fleet of Dennis Eagle RCV’s supplied by vehicle and plant contract hire experts Specialist Fleet Services (SFS).
Mike Brymer, Chief Officer, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council said: ”We went out and asked local people what kind of service they wanted and we listened to what they said. Residents want less containers and more choice so we’re moving from a source segregated service to a new dual stream collection. As a result we’ve reduced the number of collection rounds, and the number of vehicles required, and have saved approximately £250,000.”
SFS, a member of the Rothschild Banking Group, first started working with the authority in 2005 and were recently awarded the contract to supply a new fleet as well as maintain the vehicles.
“We have a good working relationship with SFS because they understand our needs. The contract offers great value for money. We have a fleet of state of the art and fit for purpose vehicles, incorporating the latest safety and lighting technology, and a comprehensive fleet management and maintenance service that goes above and beyond our specification.”
Bob Sweetland, managing director, SFS Ltd: “We’re delighted to have been selected as the supplier of choice and look forward to continuing working with Hinckley & Bosworth. As part of the contract we have installed a new ‘bells and whistles’ fleet management system, to ensure all the vehicles are fully compliant, serviced and well maintained at all times, as well as providing additional features such as fuel usage monitoring.”
For the first time the authority has chosen RCV’s from Dennis Eagle - 8 x Olympus OL19 Narrow on Elite 2 6x2 Chassis with Terberg Omni-Del Xtra bin lift; and 1 x Dennis Twin Pack 50/50 on Elite 6x4 Chassis with Terberg bin lift. The contract also includes street cleansing and general purpose vehicles comprising a Scarab Magnum Sweeper and a Scarab Minor Sweeper, 6 x 3.5 tonne Transit Caged Tippers, a Transit Luton Van with tail-lift and 3 x Transit Connect vans.
Mike Brymer continues: “We used to have a ‘mixed bag’ of vehicles and we acquired some Dennis /Terberg vehicles to operate as spare vehicles. The combination proved to be popular with crews and the new vehicles can take a greater payload so we have also increased our capacity.”
Richard Taylor, Head of Sales and Marketing, Dennis Eagle said: “We’re very excited to be providing vehicles to Hinckley & Bosworth, our neighbouring authority, and to be continuing our partnership with SFS.”
To simplify the collection service Hinckley & Bosworth Borough residents now have an alternate black bin collection week for general waste and a recycling and composting week for cans, glass, paper, plastics, cardboard. Drinks cartons and household batteries have also been added to the round, as a result of feedback from the public consultation. To avoid any confusion amongst residents about what waste is being collected the council has gone a step further and colour coded the collection vehicles according to their load i.e. Green trucks collect green waste; blue trucks collect recycling and white trucks are for refuse.
