Agenda item

(Chairman of the Waste Management Task & Finish Panel) To consider the attached final report of the Task & Finish Panel’s review.

The Chairman of the Panel, Cllr L Burrows, presented the final report of the Waste Management Task & Finish Panel review of the Council’s Waste Management Service.

Cllr L Burrows highlighted the seven recommendations of the Panel, which included the possibility of a third wheeled bin for households within the District, the future collection of food and garden waste, the provision of the Street Cleansing service, new high street refuse bins, and the possibility of further changes to the Service as a result of the Environment Bill 2020 and further Resource and Waste Strategy consultations undertaken by the Government. It was stressed that the further Government consultations planned during 2020 could result in new legislation affecting local authorities by 2023. Finally, Cllr L Burrows thanked the members of the Panel for their efforts during the review.

In respect of the proposal for a third wheeled bin to be reviewed as part of the extension or re-tender of the existing Waste Management Contract, Cllr D Plummer commented that many homes within the District did not have sufficient space for the two wheeled bins that they already had, and a third wheeled bin was simply not feasible. Cllr S Heap suggested that the status quo of clear recycling sacks should be retained instead of replacing them with a third wheeled bin. Cllr D Wixley, who had served on the Panel, commented that the Panel had accepted that not all residences within the District would have space to store a third wheeled bin, and perhaps this had not been reflected in the report.

Cllr J H Whitehouse enquired who would be involved in the review for a possible third wheeled bin, and would there be a public consultation on this matter as well? The Service Director for Contracts & Technical Services, Q Durrani, explained that the current Waste Management Contract would end in November 2024, but the Council was always looking to improve its service to residents. The Panel had considered a number of different options for the collection of recyclables and had decided that now was not the right time to implement a third wheeled bin. Any proposed service change would be the subject of a wide-ranging public consultation before the Cabinet made a decision, and external experts would be appointed by the Council to assist in this process.

Cllr S Murray offered his thanks to the Biffa operatives for continuing to collect waste throughout the District during the Pandemic, and also welcomed the proposal to implement high street bins that allowed for the segregation of waste and recyclables. In respect of the review of the Street Cleansing service, the Councillor hoped for an improvement in the service as shopping areas and high streets were kept clean but residential streets were not covered so well by it currently. Finally, the Councillor emphasised the need to consult with residents whenever a major change to the Waste Management service was proposed as to many residents, the Council’s primary purpose was to collect the bins. The implementation of a third wheeled bin would be a major change to the Service, and potential costs of the different options should also be given when consulting with the public. Q Durrani reiterated that an extensive public consultation would be undertaken before any major change to the service, but also warned that a future Government Bill could mandate the use of a third wheeled bin for the collection of recyclables.

Cllr S Rackham also thought that segregated bins in the high streets would be a good idea, but pointed out that this placed faith in the public to sort their waste before depositing it in the bin and once contaminated recyclable waste was no longer recyclable. Q Durrani stated that recyclables collected in the District were treated as mixed recyclables, and that segregated bins were known to work, even if 20% of the recyclables were contaminated. The behaviour of the public was changing and they were questioning why the Council did not provide these types of bins in the high streets. Cllr D Wixley added that these bins also had separate sections for cigarette ends and chewing gum.

Cllr D Plummer commented that local ‘Litter Pick’ groups knew which areas had the most litter on a regular basis, and suggested that Officers should liaise with these groups to provide equipment. J Warwick stated that Officers would make contact with the local ‘Litter Pick’ groups to identify those areas which required extra attention and run public promotional campaigns.

Cllr J M Whitehouse enquired whether the emphasis for the Street Cleansing Service had shifted from the state of a particular area to how often that area was cleaned, and how could the quality of the recyclables collected by the Council improve given the loss of the market in China and it was purity which determined the price obtained for recycled materials.

Q Durrani reported that the Council followed the Litter Code of Practice as defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and different Officers visited different parts of the District to inspect and measure the level of littering in that area. It was accepted that littering was an emotive subject, but this process was fair and the results were reported to the Waste Management Partnership Board. The Council’s standards for littering were fairly high and the seven major centres within the District had static teams for street cleansing. The gateway areas into the District attracted considerable litter, predominantly fast food related, but education and enforcement would be equally important in the future to counteract littering.

In respect of the quality of the recyclable material collected, Q Durrani stated that the Council currently collected all recyclable materials together for sifting at Biffa’s Recycling Centre, which had been upgraded after the collapse of the Chinese market for recyclables. The contamination levels of the materials collected was currently low, but the only way to prevent contamination was to collect all of the different materials separately – which had advantages and disadvantages. The feedback from external assessors was that the recycling collections were of a high quality within the District. Food and garden waste were collected together and went through a more expensive process to separate; costs would reduce if food and garden waste were collected separately.

Cllr M Sartin suggested that the Panel could reconvene later in the year to consider any further information which became available from the Government following the planned further Resource and Waste Strategy consultations, and this was agreed by the Committee.

            Resolved:

(1)        That the following recommendations from the Waste Management Task & Finish Panel be approved:

            (a)        that the proposal for a third wheelie bin to replace clear recycling             sacks   be reviewed as part of the appraisal options for the extension or             re-tender of the waste management contract;

            (b)        that the Officers continue to discuss the future collection of food             and garden waste in separate containers with Biffa. Officers will keep             informed of further Government guidance to help inform a decision on             the future collection of garden and food waste separately. Any future             changes to service delivery will be presented to Cabinet for approval;

            (c)        that Officers assess the option of not collecting garden waste in             certain months of the year once the Government had conducted further             consultation and determined whether the collection of food and garden             waste must be done separately;

            (d)        that, through the Waste Management Partnership Board,             Officers will keep informed of any changes to the recycling market, and             of any financial implications to the waste collection contract;

            (e)        that further work on the street cleansing schedule be done to             monitor and measure the impact. It is also recommended that any             changes to the street cleansing schedule would need to be approved             by Cabinet before being implemented;

            (f)         that high street bins be replaced with a new style bin that allows             for the segregation of waste and recycling materials; and

            (g)        that Officers keep Members informed of any potential changes             and impact on service delivery as a result of the Environment Bill and             any new legislation that Government introduce as a result of             Government’s Resource and Waste Strategy consultations; and

(2)        That the Waste Management Task & Finish Panel be reconvened later in the municipal year to consider any new information arising from the Environment Bill and any new legislation introduced by the Government.