Council signs new eight-year deal with waste contractor

The £230million contract will see Veolia continue to provide waste collection, fly-tipping removal and cleaning services across Haringey, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Watermead Way Municipal Services Depot in Tottenham and (inset) deputy council leader Tammy Hymas (credit Haringey Council)

Haringey Council has agreed a new £230million contract with Veolia UK, which will see the company provide the borough’s cleaning and waste services for at least another eight years.

The decision was signed off by Green councillor Tammy Hymas, the local authority’s co-deputy leader and cabinet member for housing, at a cabinet member signing on Thursday (11th) last week.

The £230,358,134 contract will last until at least the mid-2030s. It represents a continuation of Veolia-provided street cleaning, recycling and waste management services in the borough, dating back to 2011.

The new nine-figure deal is set to commence on 17th April next year. It will run for “an initial period” of eight years, with the local authority having the option to extend the deal for a further eight years “in aggregate”.

In March, the council’s outgoing Labour administration agreed to enter into contract agreements with Veolia after the completion of a leaseholder consultation and review process.

Last month, Labour lost control of the council for the first time in over 50 years, following the local elections on 7th May. With the most seats, a Green minority administration was formed after no party won an outright majority.

A report prepared by officers ahead of last week’s decision said that, despite the change of administration, there was “nothing which would prevent the council from entering into the contract arrangements with Veolia”.

The deal includes “all statutory waste collection services”, including resident’s bin collections and the management of food waste, recyclables and non-recyclable waste. Veolia will also be responsible for garden and bulky waste as well as “cleansing” of public highways.

In addition, it will be tasked with removing graffiti and tidying up instances of fly-tipping across the borough. Veolia will also provide cleaning services across the council’s housing estates. This includes litter-picking and emptying of litter bins as well as street sweeping and “cleansing” play areas.

In their report, council officers said the agreement would provide “a consistent approach across the highway and estates” and deliver “management efficiencies and sharing of resources”.

The services for housing estates is expected to cost around £4m a year. These costs will continue to be recovered through annual service charges to tenants and leaseholders.

The local authority says that letters were sent out between January and February this year “which explained the implications to leaseholders and sought views with regard to the long term arrangements for housing estates external cleaning”.

The leaseholder consultation, which received 15 responses, started on 19th March this year and concluded a month later. Council officers reported that the “main observations” expressed in this process were in regards to “transparency, fairness, and oversight of costs and service delivery under the new contract”.

Residents also expressed demands for more consistent cleansing standards, enhanced digital reporting and clearer performance monitoring. In their report, council officers argued that the new contract with Veolia would help address these issues “through a more data-driven approach to cost apportionment” as well as stronger performance management arrangements.

They also argued that the new contract would help deliver better standards, including better communication and response times – in addition to greater accessibility and more thorough “service coverage” across all estates.

Veolia is a French transnational company, with headquarters based in the suburbs of Paris. In 2025 it “won or extended” more than £1billion-worth of waste contracts with local authorities across the UK.

On its website, the company describes itself as “the UK leader in environmental solutions”, providing “a comprehensive range of waste, water and energy management services designed to build the circular economy and preserve scarce raw materials”.

Local news needs your support

We are proud that we were at the forefront of reporting on the recent local elections. We can’t do this without the support of our readers.

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.