Ubico commences delivery of waste and street cleansing services for Forest of Dean District Council

Ubico commences delivery of waste and street cleansing services for Forest of Dean District Council

From 5th August 2024, Ubico will deliver waste and recycling collections and street cleansing services on behalf of Forest of Dean District Council. Ubico already has a close relationship with the Forest of Dean District Council who joined Ubico as a shareholder in 2015.

Since 2015, Ubico have been delivering a range of services to the Forest of Dean District Council, including grass cutting of council-managed land, cleaning and maintenance of public toilets and the delivery of waste and recycling containers to households. We also manage Oak Quarry household recycling centre, on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council.

Over the past year, Ubico, Publica and Forest of Dean District Council have been working together in preparation for the transfer and are set to deliver a value for money service to residents of the Forest of Dean.  There will be no changes to existing rounds with schedules and staffing all staying the same.

The integration of colleagues from Forest of Dean’s existing waste, recycling and street cleansing service will see Ubico’s headcount near 1000 staff. Ubico has worked closely with Biffa, ensuring consultations with existing staff, inductions and training happened ahead of schedule, to support a smooth transition into Ubico.

Ubico has also supported the council with its ambitions towards positive climate change. Following a successful trial in November 2023, two electric kerbside recycling collection have joined the Forest of Dean’s recycling vehicle fleet. Ubico uses several electric and hybrid vehicles across its operating areas but this is the first electric kerbside recycling vehicle.  These electric vehicles will lower the carbon footprint in the area and reduce local air pollution.

Beth Boughton, Managing Director at Ubico, said: “We are excited to commence delivery of waste , recycling and street cleansing services to residents in the Forest of Dean and to start working with our new colleagues who join us from Biffa. Detailed preparations have been made over the past year, in close partnership with our colleagues at Forest of Dean District Council to facilitate a smooth transition of the existing service into Ubico. We would like to extend a thank you to Biffa for their cooperation and assistance in the transition of service between providers ."

 

Councillor Andy Moore, portfolio holder for waste and recycling at the Forest of Dean District Council, said::

Ubico already provides a number of services to the District Council, and we are looking forward to building on this partnership once the waste and recycling service transitions. While residents will see very little change to the services they receive in the short term, the move to Ubico, in conjunction with the Council’s ongoing development of the new Brickworks site in Cinderford, will enable us to explore options for how we could deliver our waste services differently in the future to make them more sustainable while continuing to provide a first-rate frontline service. This move puts us in a strong position to start that process.”