The award of a new contract to run waste collections and street cleaning has been approved by the Surrey Heath Borough Council Executive.

Four Surrey councils - Woking, Surrey Heath, Elmbridge and Mole Valley – are part of a joint contract for waste services. The existing contract with Amey LG Ltd is managed by Joint Waste Solutions on behalf of the four councils, and due to end in June 2027.

The initial ten-year term of the contract will end next year and Amey has chosen to exit the waste market and so does not wish to extend the current contract.

The assessment criteria for the preferred bidder saw price and quality allocated an equal weighting to balance the importance of delivering a high-quality service to residents, whilst also ensuring value for money. 

Once the decision to award the contract to the preferred bidder and an updated Inter Authority Agreement has been taken to each of the four councils, it will go to the East Surrey and West Surrey shadow authorities for their formal approval.

The new unitary authorities will officially take over from existing borough, district and councils in Surrey on 1 April 2027.

The decision to run the lengthy process to award a new waste contract before the new West and East Surrey councils come into power was taken to ensure no service interruption for residents.

After the contract is awarded, the name of the successful bidder will be announced and work will start immediately to “mobilise” or prepare the new contractor for a smooth handover of waste services when Amey’s contract ends in June 2027.

The new contract will run until 2034. On 1 April, the contract will transfer to the new West and East Surrey councils.