A BID is a geographical region, usually a town or area within a city, in which local businesses are collaborating to improve their environment.  First Mile has now worked with London BIDs for over 15 years, and is the capital’s primary BID recycling partner. It currently works with 35 BIDs, providing first in-class recycling and waste partnerships that deliver amazing savings to members, as well as running consolidation projects and sustainability events that help BIDs become green champions in their areas.

In a further boost to sustainability, four in five collections for members of both the Baker Street Quarter Partnership and Harley Street BIDs are made by First Mile’s award-winning iconic fleet of electric cargo bikes.  These custom-built bikes, which can each carry 200kg of waste, work silently with zero emissions, collecting waste and recycling from businesses across London. One bike has the same operational capacity as a 3.5-tonne truck, while saving over 20kg of CO2 emissions per day in comparison.

Collectively, in the last 12 months, First Mile’s recycling schemes with its 35 BIDs have resulted in over 9,300 tonnes of business waste collected for recycling, equating to carbon savings of over 12,000 tonnes and cost savings to businesses of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Penny Alexander, Baker Street Quarter Partnership’s Chief Executive, said: “Our new partnership with First Mile will help more businesses cut costs and meet their green goals by minimising waste and increasing recycling rates. A valuable feature of the service is the unique bar-coded waste sacks which will help provide businesses with accurate waste reports, especially those in managed buildings and will also help to identify sources of bags left on streets. As an area-wide scheme, the more local businesses get involved the greater the impact on local air quality and congestion. We’re excited to see how First Mile can help us achieve our ambitious targets.

Nicki Palmer, BID Director at the Harley Street BID, added: "This new partnership with First Mile is an important step in supporting our businesses to deliver a more sustainable footprint.  We are delighted to be able to bring cost efficiencies to our businesses and I'm confident that, by working together, First Mile and the Harley Street BID can make a really positive difference and further enhance the green efforts of our great business community for a healthier and cleaner local environment." 

First Mile Founder and CEO, Bruce Bratley, concluded: “Working with BIDs is a fantastic example of teamwork and partnership in action, and we’re delighted to welcome the Baker Street Quarter Partnership and Harley Street BIDs.  It’s incredibly rewarding for the First Mile team to help BIDs remove vehicle emissions from their areas, significantly reduce carbon, improve air quality and recycle more of their members’ waste than ever before.”

Businesses taking part in BID schemes receive a detailed monthly recycling report that shows how much waste they’ve produced, how much they’ve recycled, and their recycling rate. All information can be shared with customers – increasingly important as environmental consciousness continues to rise.  First Mile will always deliver services within two to three days, and the cost of everything (delivery, collection, documentation) is included in the cost – there are no hidden charges or contracts.