NEW trade waste disposal vehicles are set to hit York's streets and tackle the city's 'waste woes.'

York BID (Business Improvement District) says the appointment of Forge Recycling as its recommended supplier, following a tendering process, will help keep streets litter free and increase options for recycling, including coffee cups, while also saving businesses money.

It says there will be an average annual saving of about 20 per cent for city centre businesses who sign up for the scheme.

Executive director Andrew Lowson said: “City centre businesses face a number of challenges with waste management, and we set out to find a provider that would operate seven days a week and increase the options for recycling, whilst saving businesses money.

"The appointment of Forge Recycling as our trade waste partner achieves all of these objectives and more, with new options including recycling of coffee cups and composting of vegware, which fit perfectly with our city centre businesses.

“We have a large number of different providers all navigating York’s narrow streets to service businesses, but we genuinely believe that Forge Recycling’s offer is the best available, so the more companies they serve, the fewer vehicles will be on York’s streets, reducing pollution and congestion in the morning and late afternoon.

“Similarly, there should be no reason for waste bags to be left out on the pavement from Friday evening until Monday morning with regular weekend collections, too – something that often clogs up pavements and doorways at the time when we want our city to look the best.”

Forge Recycling’s commercial manager, Chris Hale, said that to help service the city centre, the firm was planning to open an additional distribution centre on the outskirts of York.

“Environmental awareness sits at the heart of our business, with a wide range of recycling services to minimise the amount of waste that goes to landfill," he said.

“We aim for 100 per cent avoidance of landfill, so our services include food waste collection as well as effective handling of the latest ‘green’ vegware that is increasingly being used by ethical street food providers.

"Although this decomposes in landfill, it is far better to compost – a service that few companies currently provide.”

All businesses in the city centre are eligible to join the scheme. For more details, phone 01904 202499 or email yorkbid@forgerecycling.co.uk