Waste & Recycling Services Project Officer

IMPORTANT:  This Advertiser has requested that applicants MUST be National Residents / Valid Work Permit-holders.  Other applicants need not apply.

 

Background:

Bedford - A place to live and work

Bedford is flanked east and west by tourist hotspots like Cambridge and Oxford, just a 35 minute train ride from central London and a 20 minute car drive to London Luton airport. People visiting Bedford for the first time are often surprised to find such an attractive town, standing as it does on one of the most beautiful and accessible stretches of the Great River Ouse. Bedford Borough Council is a Unitary Authority with over 2,500 employees (excluding school staff) serving a local population of around 155,700.

As a Unitary Council this council is responsible for both collection and disposal of the Boroughs waste and recycling. Bedford Borough Council is currently undertaking a review of all its waste management services including waste disposal and all its recycling collection functions as well. In the light of this ongoing programme of review the Authority is implementing a number of high profile projects to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these services both now and into the future as well as release savings to the council. This role is key to this work and will be responsible for the design/implementation of various projects to enable this modernisation to take place. Working in the Environment & Sustainable Communities (ESC) directorate you will be involved in the Refuse, Recycling and Street Cleansing front line departments.

Objective:

Route Optimisation

Many local authorities are recognising the benefits of route optimisation. Route optimisation software assists in the design of optimal collection routes for services such as waste collection, street cleansing and litter bin collection. With Route Optimisation software, Bedford Borough Council is looking to: • Reduce time and mileage • Balance workloads across crews • Introduce a four day week collection system • Implement a change in collection to alternate weekly • Increase productivity - by as much as 10 to 15% waste collection, 30% street cleansing • Optimise current vehicle fleet and staff resources • Design optimum vehicle fleet for new service development • Reduce risk in decision-making • Manage through evidence-based Waste Management. • Measure performance against planned routes, weights and times • Plan ahead for tip closures high winds/bad weather/vehicle breakdowns • Plan for property growth – confidently seek resources when required i.e. 5-10 year planning. • Model new collection systems, depot and disposal point locations • Satisfy HSE recommendations • Realise up to 10% to 15% savings in mileage, fuel, maintenance and tyre savings as well as carbon savings

BARTEC – waste collector software and hardware ‘Waste Collector’ pulls all the council’s service management information into a single, easy-to-use computer system designed specifically for high volume waste and recycling collection operations. State-of-art visualisation tools make it easy to maximise the efficiency of collection routes, focus recycling promotions or identify hotspots for contamination or other service issues. This system uses innovative and advanced systems to improve collection operations with real time reporting through in-cab GPS tracking systems.

For more information and to apply please follow this link:

http://www.changeagents.org.uk/Graduates/GradVacDetails.asp?ProjNo=2028