New SUEZ RCVs enhance waste collection service, strengthening Southend-on-Sea’s sustainability drive

10/21/2025 6:22:00 AM

Home to more than seven million visitors each year, Southend-on-Sea is well known for its bustling seafront, attractions, and vibrant local community. From one of the world’s longest piers to its very own theme park, the city has become one of the UK’s most thriving coastal destinations. With such popularity comes increased pressure on local services to keep streets and public spaces clean, not only for tourists but for the residents who call Southend home.

To support this, Southend-on-Sea City Council has introduced a new fleet of 30 Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) as part of an enhanced waste and recycling service delivered by trusted partner SUEZ recycling and recovery UK. The vehicles will strengthen essential cleanup operations across the city, from its seafront to residential neighbourhoods, helping to reduce environmental impact, improve recycling rates, and ensure cleaner, tidier streets for everyone.

The new SUEZ-branded fleet includes Olympus 13 body on an Elite+ chassis, 11 Olympus 21 bodies on rear-steer Elite+ chassis with OmniDEL electric bin lifts, and a further 18 Olympus 22 Twin Pack bodies with OmniDEL triple electric bin lifts. Together, these RCVs will serve 85,500 households citywide, supporting alternate weekly collections designed to cut carbon emissions and help the council meet its statutory recycling target of 65% by 2030.

“Sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do at SUEZ,” said Penny Fletcher, Communications Manager for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK. “That’s why our people are so passionate about tackling the volume of waste generated at Southend-on-Sea. As well as our commitment to helping the council achieve its carbon neutral aspirations by 2030, we want to ensure the inspiring sense of civic pride present throughout the city is maintained. That’s why we’re focusing our efforts on cleaning up the beachfront as part of the new waste collection scheme, while also helping to deliver broader benefits for residents, from cleaner streets to improved recycling and a lower environmental footprint. I’ve worked with Dennis Eagle for many years, and I know their technology is ideal for Southend’s diverse needs.”

Driving Sustainability: Dennis to the Rescue

An initiative of particular interest to SUEZ and Southend-on-Sea City Council is Dennis Eagle’s Sustainable Schools programme. This pairs local schools and councils across the country with a mobile classroom designed to teach young people about sustainability and responsible waste management. Dubbed ‘Dennis to the Rescue’, the classroom will be shared between SUEZ and the council early next year to raise awareness of the environmental impact of waste across Southend’s communities.

“We’re excited to our mobile classroom to the SUEZ team next year,” said Nicola Case, Regional Sales Manager, Dennis Eagle. “Both our businesses are big advocates for sustainability and contributing to a cleaner, greener planet, so we’re confident it will be a useful tool in encouraging good practice for waste management. This, alongside our innovative, industry-leading RCVs, will make certain SUEZ and Southend-on-Sea are well-equipped to handle crucial cleanup operations under their new collection service.”

Dennis Eagle’s partnership with SUEZ continues to go from strength to strength, with the business now firmly established as the RCV supplier of choice.

“Our long history of working with SUEZ extends over almost 30 years, but it’s really over the past four years or so that this has developed even more substantially,” said Ben Hoadley, General Manager, Dennis Eagle. “Having established an exceptional relationship with SUEZ across Milton Keynes, Mid-Kent, Maldon and beyond in recent years, this has only helped sow the seed for success in Southend. This extensive experience means we are best placed to support SUEZ recycling and recovery UK’s unique requirements, ensuring a smooth transition to our vehicles as the city’s new waste collection scheme is implemented.”