The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has signed new operating contracts with SUEZ for the management of the city’s waste and resources.

SUEZ will manage 1.1 million tonnes of municipal waste from over one million households across nine Greater Manchester boroughs with a combined contract value of over £1bn.

The two contracts include the operation of 41 facilities over 24 sites, including four mechanical treatment and rail head reception facilities.

They also include 20 household waste recycling centres, eight transfer loading stations, the Bolton thermal recovery facility and a materials recovery facility.

The deals were signed following an 18 month procurement process.

‘We are extremely pleased with the result of the procurement process and are confident that our new partnership with SUEZ will provide opportunities to enable us to increase recycling of household waste which is key to moving towards a more circular economy,’ said Cllr Allison Gwynne, chair of the GMCA Waste and Recycling Committee.

‘This is another step towards making Greater Manchester one of the leading Green city-regions in the UK.’

The GMCA said they will work with SUEZ to focus on ‘significantly increasing’ recycling rates and diverting over 96% of Greater Manchester’s municipal waste from landfill.

David Palmer-Jones, chief executive of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with the GMCA and were inspired by their visionary approach to ensuring that the contracts deliver environmental improvements and added social value for Greater Manchester.

‘We have made over 50 social value commitments and are particularly excited about how our plans for funds raised through re-use initiatives will benefit the Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity and other community projects across the city-region.

‘We very much look forward to playing our part in helping deliver the ‘Five Year Environment Plan’ for Greater Manchester.’