City centre businesses are being offered the chance to form partnerships with a waste company in order to make collection more efficient.

St Albans BID (Business Improvement Direct) has joined forces with KP Waste to try to save local businesses time and money when it comes to their waste disposal.

Currently companies have to sort out their own disposal services. That means there is a range of services all working in St Albans to get rid of the litter that needs taking away from the city centre. Companies have reported that it is very time-consuming, causing congestion on the roads and is often difficult to get hold of suppliers should there be an issue.

The partnership with KP Waste has been designed so that the more companies who sign up, the cheaper the cost will be. BID consulted with six possible suppliers and KP Waste were selected.

The company will have a dedicated switchboard for St Albans businesses to contact and because more companies will be using one refuse service, it is thought that less trucks will be on the roads which will be better for congestion and the environment.

St Albans BID manager Helen Burridge said: "We are pleased to be launching this partnership and are excited about the real benefit it will bring. After working on a commercial waste review, we have a clear idea of what businesses in St Albans need from their waste and recycling collections. We are confident that KP Waste is the right provider with the right skillset and infrastructure to support our businesses."

Director of KP Waste Kevin Hill said: "After many years working in St Albans and with all our recycling sites less than three miles outside of St Albans, we are delighted to partner in this way. No waste collected under this contract will go to landfill and we look forward to improving the businesses' recycling streams to pass savings back to the businesses. This kind of contract offers the best value for the businesses and we know we can deliver the service and quality that they expect."

Information on how to join the scheme will be sent out to BID members and other businesses who have shown interest and will be outlined at the next members update meeting on Wednesday, June 5.