FORMAL backing to the formation of a countywide joint waste partnership is being sought from Gloucestershire County Council at Friday's (November 25) cabinet meeting.

If the cabinet endorses the proposal, it would become the third council to do so – resulting, they say, in considerable environmental and financial savings.

Existing day-to-day delivery arrangements and customer relations will remain the same.

In May 2010, following a feasibility study, the Gloucestershire authorities concluded that treating waste collection and disposal as a single integrated process across the county would yield considerable financial and environmental savings.

"Similar joint arrangements have already proven to be very successful elsewhere in the UK, and that participants in Gloucestershire could make a joint saving of about £2 million over a five year period due to the economies of scale involved," the council states.

They add they would also be able to accelerate progress towards higher rates of recycling and the reduction of domestic waste going to landfill.

This prompted Gloucestershire County Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cotswold District Council, and Forest of Dean District Council to accept the proposal for the creation of a Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee (GJWC) from the beginning of the financial year 2012/13, subject to a final decision in the autumn of 2011.

Additionally, Tewkesbury Borough Council agreed to consider the recommendation.

On a day-to-day level, residents would see little immediate change to the service they receive when the GJWC comes into being.

Cllr Stan Waddington, cabinet project champion for waste, said: "It is only by working together that longer term we can seek to achieve a more consistent service for Gloucestershire residents and, more importantly, costs will be driven down providing better value for council tax payers."