Agenda item

Following the Committee’s longstanding interest in the transformation of the waste service, the Chairman requested that an update be provided on the current position with regards to service provision following approval by Full Council on 22 February 2011.

The Service Director Waste Management Services and Head of Waste Management Transformation were in attendance to answer questions arising from the debate.

The Chairman requested that members focus on the timetable for the service changes and associated risks and challenges.

Discussion commenced with members raising concern over the capacity required by residents across the County to host the additional waste collection bins for plastic and cardboard.  It was expected the sizing of the additional recycling bins required would be approximately 240 litres for the majority of households (although this had yet to be confirmed).

Confirmation was provided by the Service Director that where residents were unable to accommodate the additional bins (such as flats/apartments) the individual needs of those residents could be further discussed with the Council to consider alternative options.  A policy to address this issue was to be submitted to the Cabinet member for consideration.

The Council currently offered an assisted collection service for eligible residents which would remain as part of the revised service provision.

Members also discussed green waste collection where, in the South of the County, a collection fee was currently in place.  Although it was understood the revised service would no longer attract a fee for the collection of green waste members felt that, following budgetary cuts announced following the Comprehensive Spending Review, this could have perhaps remained a revenue stream for the Council.

The Service Director confirmed that the collection of green waste generated approximately 12,000 tonnes per year.  As the Council was now expected to pay a set fee per tonne of landfill waste generated the service would provide savings in this area as well as reducing the methane emissions that green waste produced which were 20 times more damaging to the environment than carbon emissions.

Food waste collection was also raised as an area for potential consideration although clarification was provided that, due to cost, this would not be considered at the present time. The authority was however monitoring other authorities who provided this service to ascertain the potential long term benefits.

The current contract for the collection of non-landfill waste ran until 2016 when there would be a further opportunity to review the service provided.

The Service Director confirmed that an order had been placed to meet the additional fleet requirements following approval by Full Council on 22 February 2011 and that the contract in place for the supply of the fleet included that, should there be a delay in delivery, the manufacturer was required to cover the cost of providing temporary vehicles until delivery of the additional vehicles had taken place.

Further discussion commenced in relation to carbon reduction commitments.  Currently the Council was not required to pay any carbon tax on vehicles although this was likely to change over the next few years when further monitoring measures were expected. 

The Committee noted the need for strong communication and monitoring of the service and that the Management Review undertaken to achieve budgetary savings had impacted on the communication workstream which included the information system.  It was hoped that the information system (to include asset management and accessible across the county) would be active by October 2011.  However contingency plans had been put in place to ensure storage of the necessary information was held until activation of the system if required.

Resolved:

1)         To thank officers for the report.

2)         To request that the Cabinet Member kept green waste charging under review.

3)         To receive a further update on the Waste Collection and Recycling Service in July 2011.