Case Study: Northumberland County Council achieves over £200,000 annual savings and reduced CO2 with Ordnance Survey mapping and route optimisation

Northumberland County Council - Customer Case Study

Northumberland County Council faced inefficient garden-waste services after becoming a unitary authority, inheriting six district systems with different charging rates, low take‑up and an archaic sign-up/payment process that kept inefficient collection rounds and drove up fuel costs and CO2 emissions. Ordnance Survey provided mapping products — including OS MasterMap ITN Layer, OS MasterMap Topography Layer, OS VectorMap Local and the council’s Local Land and Property Gazetteer — to support a redesign of the service.

Using Ordnance Survey’s mapping data together with route‑optimisation software to remove old district boundaries and create efficient rounds, the council cut vehicle mileage by 1,700 miles (about 9.15 tons CO2) and delivered savings in excess of £200,000 per year, while increasing take‑up, revenue and recycling and reducing garden waste to landfill.

Northumberland County Council

Ryan Gilchrist

Information Services