WASTE management company Yorwaste is bidding for three contracts as it prepares for one of the most important years in its history.

The Northallerton company is bidding for waste management contracts with the City of York and North Yorkshire County Council.

The contracts are to operate two dozen tips across the county, as well as transporting and recycling materials from them.

If Yorwaste wins the work, it will take the company into the next phase of its development and mean more expansion.

It has submitted the first tender to City of York council for a ten-year contract to look after three household waste recycling centres in the city.

The company already manages these sites, but under the terms of the new contract, it would have to make improvements - including introducing new sites - as City of York has set high recycling targets in its bid to demonstrate national best practice.

Yorwaste is also preparing a similar tender for North Yorkshire County Council, which is seeking a company to operate and maintain 21 of its household waste recycling centres.

North Yorkshire County Council is also seeking to award a one-year contract for fridge recycling and a ten-year disposal and composting contract.