COUNCIL chiefs have signed a £50 million contract with a waste management company to handle the city's rubbish.

Yorwaste will now continue to dispose of York's rubbish for a further 15 years and deal with its recycling for another five years.

In total, about 112,000 tonnes of waste will have to be processed each year.

Responsibilities will include composting green waste, collecting material from recycling centres and disposing of hazardous waste from fly-tipping.

The company aims to recycle at least 40 per cent of the total volume of rubbish it processes.

The contract was signed yesterday by Terry Collins, the council's director of neighbourhood services, and Stephen Grieve, Yorwaste's managing director.

Mr Collins said: "I'm delighted that we are able to extend our partnership with Yorwaste. We've worked very successfully with the company since the council was formed in 1996 and have seen recycling rates in York increase dramatically during this time.

"Dealing with household waste in an environmentally-friendly and cost effective way is one of the biggest issues facing local authorities at the moment and I'm sure that Yorwaste, working with the council, will help York address the problem."