Westminster City Council maximises value for money with new approach to waste services procurement

A local authority in central London has made innovative use of GIS to help ensure that new tenders for its £225 million waste disposal contracts offer the best possible value for money.  By using Esri’s ArcGIS Online for this project, in place of an outside consulting firm, the council saved in excess of £20,000.

Every year, 180,000 tonnes of rubbish are collected from households and businesses in Westminster by contractors working for Westminster City Council.  With the three main contracts for waste disposal and recycling in the borough coming up for renewal in 2016, the council needs to make absolutely certain that its appointed suppliers offer the most cost-effective services.  It has therefore taken advantage of ArcGIS Online to gain new insight into the optimal deployment of its fleet of waste collection vehicles.

In this remarkable project, the council’s GIS team analysed London road network data and GPS data from its trucks with ArcGIS Online to calculate drive-times for vehicles between depots, collection areas and waste disposal or recycling points.  It is now using the evidence that it has gained to inform its procurement process, and ensure that prospective contractors offer the most cost-effective bids for new waste management contracts.

Prior to using ArcGIS Online for this initiative, the council’s waste services team discussed its requirements with a private consulting firm, which quoted £20,000 to undertake a similar drive-time analysis project.  Using ArcGIS, the council’s GIS team was able to complete the first drive-time models in just 15 minutes, not only making vital budget savings, but also giving the council a much faster and more flexible solution.

Highlighted quote:

“ArcGIS Online is helping us to make evidence-based decisions and ensure the effective use of public funds in the management of waste services.” 

Peter Kohler, GIS Lead, Westminster City Council