New food waste fleet finds its feet with Durham County Council

Durham County Council was particularly quick off the mark in identifying that food waste collections would make a considerable difference to its 500,000 residents and 250,000 households across the region. This summer provided the ideal setting to introduce a cohort of 35 brand-new ORUS food waste vehicles to its growing fleet, with the new food waste recycling service rolled out across June, July, and August. This consisted of nine 11-tonne ORUS 7HD and 26 7.5-tonne ORUS 6 vehicles, all put to work alongside the council’s existing circa 100 refuse collection vehicles (RCVs).

Ranging from 26-tonne RCVs to 18-tonne vehicles relied on for rural, farm-based collections, all of the domestic recycling waste collected by the council is now fully combined. This approach helps to streamline and simplify Durham’s recycling and refuse services for its residents while remaining mindful of the health and safety of its operators – intentionally deviating from separate, heavy glass collections. In fact, a significant amount of consideration is put into how waste is collected across the region. The council has conducted WRAP modelling work behind the scenes to help establish the profile of its services and benchmark its successes. Using a kerbside analysis tool, this robust modelling exercise was instrumental in helping to inform the council’s decision-making and shape its future plans.

Waste collection isn’t the only thing Durham County Council has pioneered, either. While many local authorities across the country have only recently undergone local government reorganisation (LGR), Durham County Council is already the result of such a change, having gone from seven districts and a county council down to just one county council back in 2009. “Because we’re covering a very large geographical area which consists of roughly 250,000 households and a diverse mix of rural and urban environments, adapting to the consolidation of LGR was initially a big challenge,” said Victoria Burrell, Waste Strategy Team Manager, Durham County Council. “Now, our service is more streamlined and straightforward than it’s ever been, with a more joined-up approach than before making waste collection far easier for our residents. It’s been a fantastic change for the county.”

Early and active engagement is key

What has made this transition, and any changes to the council’s waste collection services, largely smooth sailing is that its residents are onboarded early and generally seem supportive of new initiatives. The council’s recent introduction of kerbside battery collections has also proven a success and was met with a good reception and keen interest. Having identified a dormant space on its new food waste collection vehicles, Durham County Council repurposed this to enable the collection of both vapes and batteries in a bid to reduce the number of RCV fires across the region.

To help raise awareness and improve engagement with its food collection service, a dedicated website has been developed to provide key information and guidance relating to the change, and a branded leaflet has also been distributed to local residents to encourage best practice. The messaging and branding on these leaflets are additionally reflected on the vehicles themselves, with colourful and informative wraps making their way across the county to better spread the message. The council also remains incredibly active within its communities in the hope to drive greater uptake in the initiative, currently engaging with local schools to host competitions, getting its Waste and Recycling Engagement Officers ‘out and about’ to answer questions about the scheme, and planning to utilise our Dennis to the Rescue sustainable schools programme in 2027.

Richard Crawford from Durham County Council

“We’ve got big plans for our food waste collections and are constantly seeking new ways to improve and enhance our services for residents across the county,” Victoria added. “It’s been brilliant to get our new vehicles out on the road and making a difference over the past few months. We’re very grateful for the good working relationship we have with Dennis Eagle and Terberg Matec UK that has enabled us to introduce the new initiative smoothly. We’re excited to see this continue and develop thanks to the recently opened Chester-le-Street Service Centre, which is on our doorstep and ideally positioned for any future support we might need.”

“We’ve worked with Durham County Council for many years and look forward to exploring future opportunities that will help us strengthen this partnership even further,” said Kevin Forbes, General Sales Manager, Terberg Matec UK. “We’ve welcomed the council’s team to our site on multiple occasions to give them an insight into their vehicle builds and are glad these ORUS trucks are now able to support the ongoing success of their food waste collection services. Our new Durham-based Service Centre will be an important addition to the local area, demonstrating our continued commitment to many customers across the Northeast.”