Street recycling, bin services, and street cleaning may soon be taken care of by a private company in an effort to save spending for the Scottish capital. In fact, if the services were to be privatized the country could save as much as £71m. The proposals will come before councillors during this week and would see the Enterprise Managed Services invest as much as £40m into the City Council Environment Services of Edinburgh. Some of the services included in the funding include depot improvements, fleet vehicles, and recycling containers and the addition of these would help the council save as much as £71.6m.
It is estimated that this would help the council save about £30m every year over the course of seven years as part of a contract between the council and Enterprise Managed Services. Outside of the above mentioned services, the company will also work on improving some of the gardens and parks within Edinburgh.
Director of service for communities, Mark Turley, stated that the partnership is aimed at helping the council modernize their services while also improving the residents experience given the fact that the council has to face financial restraints. He added that the council will still control the different aspects of the service and would make all final decisions about any changes or improvements in the service over the seven year contract. There are also penalties assigned for any service delivery problems with the company.
If the proposal is accepted than Enterprise Managed Services would have to reach a target of getting the recycling rate in Edinburgh up to 60% over the course of the seven years by introducing new containers for recycling.
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