An innovative partnership between NRG Riverside and Basildon Council has led to significant carbon reduction, improvements in local air quality, job and apprenticeship opportunities for the community, increased recycling rates, and the establishment of the UK’s first fully electric food waste fleet. FVI Editor Ann-Marie Knegt reports.
For NRG, a personal approach to each contract is critical, and the agreement with Basildon Council is no exception. The contract with Basildon was initiated around 14 years ago, when NRG Riverside took over the management of Basildon’s workshop, and the staff were TUPE transferred to NRG.
Russell explains that one of the first actions was the implementation of electric bin lifts on the RCV fleet, which was relatively new technology at the time and resulted in an immediate 10% fuel savings. ‘We even said that if the bin lifts didn’t work, we would swap them, but they did, and this fleet eventually matured into the UK’s first electric food waste fleet.’
He adds: ‘With Basildon, we’re no longer just supplying vehicles. We have evolved from a traditional municipal contract to a fully functioning, innovative partnership.’
James Hendry, Assistant Director of Environmental Services, Climate and Open Spaces at Basildon Borough Council, notes that contracts are traditionally based on either input or output. ‘We moved beyond that fairly quickly, and progressed from a place where we were able to professionalise our vehicle workshop and fleet provision into a mature partnership, based on solid performance from the initial stages.
‘We have had a good team on site, and good people working on this contract – good fitters and apprentices. We know our vehicles are going to be on the road, which provides us with the capacity and space to discuss more innovative things.’
Basildon is a new town, founded on the idea of doing things differently. James believes that delivering innovation and adopting an internal culture of change are critical for a public sector organisation such as Basildon Council, and the contract with NRG was itself an innovation.
Basildon Council initiated its relationship with NRG Riverside through a competitive dialogue rather than a traditional tender process, a completely new idea at the time, notes Alan Underdown, Head of Borough Operations at Basildon Borough Council. Competitive dialogue is a flexible, phased public procurement process used for complex projects where technical solutions are not well-defined or require innovation. It provided a tailored solution suited to the council’s requirements, offering both parties greater flexibility than a standard, fixed contract.
The willingness of all parties to be upfront has been vital to the success of the relationship over the years, as everyone is aware of the current status, even under pressure, such as during service changes and delivery deadlines. Kirsty Hillsden, NRG Business Development Manager, says that the level of communication between NRG and Basildon has always been exemplary. ‘It doesn’t matter at what level, operational or innovation, conversation is never closed off.’
First electric food waste fleet
Basildon has been operating its electric food waste fleet for three years now, starting service in October 2022 with seven 12.5-tonne Electra eCargo vehicles with Hillend Engineering Micro XHD bodies. The fleet offers zero-emission collections, with vehicles capable of double-shifting thanks to their fast charging.
Real-world data shows the fleet is performing very well. ‘Many other local authorities are now responding to the Simpler Recycling legislation, and they are scrambling to get their services up and running,’ says Alan. ‘We were early on that, and it has paid off, as we have already overcome operational hurdles and are providing services in line with the legislation. We met our 2025 targets and are now looking to the 2035 targets.’
Road and fleet safety
Basildon Council is about to enter into an agreement with Vision Techniques for the installation of vehicle telematics on the local authority’s entire fleet. Alan explains that the council has had vehicle telematics on its agenda for several years now. ‘We want to support our drivers and staff, while managing risk, especially with insurance premiums that are going up all the time now. This is about enhancing and improving the safety of our vehicles and staff.’
Kirsty adds that it makes sense to use a third-party provider when you have a mix of vehicle types. ‘The council will deploy a driver-behaviour and training process with this system to get total transparency of the operations, while managing fuel costs, and reducing road risk.’
‘The one thing that keeps me awake at night more than anything else is knowing that there are authorities that have had fatalities or serious injuries to staff or the public,’ says James Hendry. ‘I care too much about the people who work here for that to happen. We must focus on two things: better services for residents and looking after our staff while providing them with the best tools to do the job to the best of their abilities.’
James adds: ‘We have also invested heavily, with support from NRG, in in-cab technology. This came from conversations with staff to highlight issues with the service. We asked them questions such as: “What frustrates you about your job? Where are you wasting time? Where are you duplicating journeys?” We built what we learned into our processes, and have already achieved a 28% reduction in missed collections, which is a significant number.’
Community initiatives
NRG Riverside recently began implementing a road safety initiative with Essex County Council, preparing students to walk to secondary school independently and safely by raising awareness of vehicle blind spots. This is now also being rolled out in Basildon.
‘Even most adults are not aware of the driver’s blind spots,’ says Kirsty. ‘Unless you have been in the cab of a truck, you don’t understand what can be seen or heard over the vibrations and noise. So we put the children in a cab with the engine on while an adult stood in front of the vehicle, and the child in the driver’s seat could not see the person at all.’
James says: ‘We’re really proud of our work with NRG Riverside to give back to the community. One initiative we have supported is the Pedal Power Scheme, which delivers new bikes to those who need them and sends second-hand bikes to a local school, where students help refurbish them, and we then donate them to the community. It has been a real positive in terms of engagement with some of our hard-to-reach residents, providing skills and workplace opportunities. Car ownership can be lower in deprived areas, and public transport can be limited, so bikes are a real boon in these areas and create opportunities and connections to economic activities.’
The broader point of Basildon’s strategy is to ensure the community can access skills and the best career opportunities, as James explains. ‘As a council, we have lots of employment opportunities and training programmes. We have development programmes on the collection side, and on our operational and staff side.’
Alan adds that the council has seen success training from within. ‘Staff come in as loaders, and if they perform well, we fast-track them through our HGV-driver training programme. Engagement with our drivers has always been high on our agenda, and driver input has led to several improvements over the years.’
The future
All this is taking place against a backdrop of local government reorganisation and devolution. James believes the council will know by March 2026 what the future of local government in Essex will look like. He explains that several unitary authorities will be created across the county, creating an entirely new system. ‘This will present both opportunities and challenges. It will provide us with greater control over more parts of the system. Rather than having a separate waste collection and disposal authority, the unitary council could do both.’
In the meantime, the reorganisation creates uncertainty for the existing collection and fleet services. ‘As an authority, we won’t be here in a couple of years, so we need to wait and see how the reorganisation plays out,’ says James. ‘Local government only gets reorganised every 50 years, and whatever model emerges from this latest round will be ours for the next 50 years, so at least that gives us the ability to plan long-term.’
He concludes: ‘We will continue to be open to opportunities, continue our dialogue with NRG Riverside, our staff and the community, while continuing to review our processes. I don’t think we will ever be at a point where we can step back and say the job is done. We will always focus on the next thing on our agenda.’
