Veolia Westminster’s nights recycling team took home the Collection Crew of the Year award at this year’s Awards for Excellence. This award is a result of the team’s dedication to keeping Westminster’s busy streets clean by capturing 2,954 tonnes of additional commercial recycling over the past 16 months.
The Collection Crew of the Year win shines a light on the crew’s dedication to consistent high-quality separation of recycling from residual waste, improving the nightly recycling rate significantly and contributing towards the City of Westminster’s overall recycling rate.
While most of Westminster is sleeping, the team steadily increases the amount of recycling collected. Overall, the crew has managed to capture an impressive 2,954 tonnes of commercial recycling, increasing the nightly recycling rate by 81% in the first six weeks of 2025.
Expanding recycling collections into the night has been a key ambition for both Veolia and Westminster City Council, but would not have been possible without this team’s hard work. Deployed ahead of general waste collections, the team actively seeks to collect as much recycling as possible. In addition, the crew undertook a street by street analysis of waste presentation, enabling Veolia Westminster’s commercial sales team to identify the businesses that weren’t using correct disposal methods. This led to their inclusion in an outreach campaign to encourage recycling and to ensure their compliance with Simpler Recycling reforms.
To increase the area covered even further, a second recycling round was introduced in summer 2024, contributing to Westminster City Council’s aim to become a net zero city by 2040, with 948.5 tonnes of CO2e saved since the rounds began.
Veolia was also highly commended in the following categories:
- Service Change at a Local Authority Level for Veolia Southwark’s separation of food and garden waste, which resulted in a 27% increase in the amount of organic material collected.
- Resource and Waste Management Partnership of the Year in partnership with JD Wetherspoon and DHL for effective recycling solutions that resulted in 9,400 tonnes of food waste and 21,000 tonnes of glass being recycled in 2024.
Pascal Hauret, Municipal Managing Director at Veolia, said: “This is a well deserved award for Veolia Westminster’s nights recycling team. The outstanding recognition they have received highlights their crucial role in advancing our sustainability goals in line with Westminster City Council’s carbon-zero ambitions. It also illustrates Veolia’s focus on supporting the communities we serve with effective solutions to help both residents and businesses do their bit for the planet through recycling.”
Cllr Max Sullivan, Cabinet Member for Streets, said: “I’m so proud of our incredible night-time recycling collection team, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep Westminster’s streets clean, safe, and running smoothly every day of the year. Their dedication often goes unseen, but this award shines a much-deserved spotlight on their efforts. It also reflects the council’s ongoing commitment to building a greener, more sustainable city for all residents, businesses, and visitors.”
