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Ubico we now deliver for West Oxfordshire and the whole of Gloucestershire,” Beth opens.“ We commenced waste and recycling, street cleansing, and grounds maintenance services for Gloucester City Council in 2022, which added a new shareholder to our portfolio. The Forest of Dean District Council was already a shareholder, and we added delivery of their waste and recycling services and street cleansing last year, taking the total number of properties, we collect waste and recycling from to over 369,000.
“ Employing in the region of 1000 people and operating over 1300 square miles, our purpose is to keep spaces and places clean and green for every resident, visitor, town, village, and community,” she states.“ We work in partnership with our shareholder councils and work to their service design; the councils outline their objectives and vision, and we execute these services at cost, offering a cost-effective solution for local authorities. This model enables us to quickly respond and adapt to changes, and by working with several councils, we can effectively leverage opportunities to streamline processes and drive greater efficiency. Each council benefits from coming together on certain initiatives and we can share best practices with our shareholders.”
Sustainable solutions
Alongside expansion over the last ten years, Ubico has also diversified its offering to meet demand for sustainable solutions.“ We have a few different approaches when it comes to sustainability, mainly because our partner councils have got their own targets for carbon neutrality,” Beth shares.“ We’ re an active business in terms of wheels on the ground, so most of our emissions come from our fleet. We’ ve implemented several initiatives, and we now have 43 percent of our fleet operating on hydrotreated vegetable oil( HVO), as well as 31 electric or hybrid vehicles and 43 EV charging points.
“ When we started waste and recycling services in the Forest of Dean, the council was keen to use electric HGVs, and this added two electric curbside recycling collection vehicles to our fleet. Working with our partners, we ensure that our fleet specifications include as many features as possible to streamline vehicles in terms of efficiency. We also work directly with our drivers to monitor and improve driver performance, educating them on how their driving style impacts carbon emissions. Also, our in-house fleet
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