A MULTI-MILLION pound contract will see household recycling in the Borders transported 230 miles to Northern Ireland.

Scottish Borders Council (SBC) has struck the £5.6 million agreement with Re-Gen Waste Ltd, of Newry, to deal with the “uplift, treatment and disposal” of “co-mingled mixed recyclate”.

It is predicted that 10,000 tonnes of kerbside recyclables – including paper, cardboard, cans and plastic – will be taken across the North Channel on an annual basis.

Re-Gen Waste, the only bidders for the council contract, will replace J&B Recycling, of Hartlepool.

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On the award, SBC waste manager Ross Sharp-Dent said: “Following the expiry of our previous contract for the transport and processing of dry mixed recycling, a procurement exercise was undertaken by the council with the available contract put out to tender.

“The successful company, Re-Gen, a Northern Ireland based recycling and waste management specialist, is a market leader in the processing of and recovery of recyclable materials and currently works for a number of other Scottish local authorities.

“The contract will see Re-Gen provide the same service as our previous contractor and process all of the same materials for recycling. As a result there will be no change experienced by the public in terms of what can be put in their bins."

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Mr Sharp-Dent added: “In 2019 SBC achieved a total recycling rate of 49 per cent, representing an increase of over 10 per cent from the previous year and the largest increase of any local authority in Scotland.

“This is significantly higher than the national recycling average (44.9 per cent) and positions SBC as the highest performing rural local authority in Scotland.

“The increase in recycling performance also coincides with a significant reduction in the amount of waste reaching landfill and a reduction in carbon emissions of 11,000 tonnes CO2e between 2018 and 2019.

“Recycling is one of the easiest everyday actions we can take to reduce our carbon footprint and I would encourage members of the public to play their part. A new online platform has been created to help people across the Scottish Borders recycle more by telling them what can and can’t be recycled in their area – https://wasteless.zerowastescotland.org.uk/recycling-sorter.”

SBC is working with the contractor to “maximise the tonnage for each journey to minimise haulage impacts”.

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The local authority said that “backload trips” will ensure the vehicles are not running empty on either leg of their journey from Northern Ireland.

Initially a three-year contract, there is an option of four one-year extensions.

The contract is on a different pricing mechanism to the previous one, according to the council, with this one more strongly linked to market prices for materials.

After the recycling is taken to Northern Ireland, the end product from the contractor will then be transported all over the world.