Plans to expand council-owned waste firm

A parent company set up by Coventry City Council runs Tom White Waste and Coombe Abbey

Expansion plans have been revealed for a council-owned waste and recycling business.

The proposals for Tom White Waste also include extra equipment to cope with demand and improve its environmental credentials.

A meeting by the shareholder committee at Coventry City Council heard that the funds required for the investment would come from third-party finance or cash within the business.

The announcement comes just days after the council's annual performance report showed the company ended the financial year with a profit of £1.26m.

A report prepared for the meeting explained any investment over £250,000 that was not part of the approved budget for the year needed approval from the committee.

It added the proposed investment was in a fuel preparation facility.

Coventry Municipal Holdings, the parent company set up to manage the council's investments, operates Tom White Waste and Coombe Abbey.

Grant McKelvie, managing director, Mr McKelvie said: "We are at a position where our existing plant is now operating pretty much at capacity and we are very much focussed on improving our overall environment performance.

"We went ahead in the early part of 2025 to apply for a permit to allow us to operate a second shift at Tom White to give us more processing capacity.

"We are now in a position to effectively invest Tom White money in the development of a extension to the plant which would allow us to create an end-of-use fuel."

Tom White Waste was purchased by Coventry City Council in 2020 for £14.9m as part of a strategy of investing in commercial operations.

The report explained that the new permit was obtained in September but added the current plant was not robust enough to take best advantage of this extra capacity.

The addition of the fuel processing plant will increase capacity and improve output quality in a cost-effective manner.