Agenda item

6.1

Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP)

6.1.1

The Committee received a presentation from Jenny Robinson, Recycling and Collections Technical Adviser, Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), on the work being undertaken by WRAP in attempting to change the behaviour of businesses, communities and the public sector on recycling issues, and aiming to turn awareness into action and deliver Government policies.  Ms Robinson referred to a series of statistics and trends relating to methods of dry recycling schemes adopted by local authorities, recycling collection methods, the percentage of local authorities collecting dry material and organic waste at the kerbside and the percentage of local authorities collecting food waste in 2013/14.  In terms of performance, she reported on quartile comparisons, in terms of yields by material, of different types of local authorities, including urban/higher deprivation against rural/lower deprivation, industrial hinterlands, against prospering southern England, and in respect of the whole of the United Kingdom.  Further statistics were reported, including percentage totals in terms of materials recycled in England in 2011/12, the percentage of material sent for recycling in comparison with the total amount in residual, the capture rate in terms of all dry material, and a comparison of collection options by capture in respect of food waste.

6.1.2

Ms Robinson reported on the opportunities to increase the recycling of both food and materials, including what was required to assist with the plans to increase recycling rates, and referred to the Materials Facilities Regulations, specifically the key elements of the Regulations and what they meant for local authorities.  Reference was also made to the support provided by WRAP, together with examples of good practice, specifically the support provided for local authorities.

6.2

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                At present, the majority of food waste collected went through a process known an anaerobic digestion, where it was broken down and used to produce fuel.  The remainder was used as compost.

·                Considerable work had been undertaken by WRAP in looking at the effects of collecting and transporting recycled material on the carbon imprint.  This work had shown that transport represented a very small element of carbon use within the overall benefit of the recycling process.

·                Recycling rates for textiles were so low for a number of reasons, mainly due to no clear statistics being available in terms of measuring collection rates as a number of private companies were involved.

·                It was the case that a number of local authorities that charged for the collection of recycled green waste had seen a reduction in recycling rates of between 7% and 8%. 

·                As part of its work, WRAP worked closely with a number of major companies, providing advice on how they could reduce packaging, in order to reduce the amount of waste created.

6.3

Waste Strategy

6.3.1

The Executive Director, Place, submitted a report containing details with regard to updating the Council’s Waste Strategy 2009-2020.  The report indicated that the Waste Strategy had been approved by the Cabinet in 2009 and since that time, there had been a number of significant service changes and other external influences that affected how much waste was produced in the City.  The update to the Strategy reflected such changes and explored how the City would manage waste in the next period to 2020.

6.3.2

The report was supported by a presentation by Gillian Charters, Head of Waste Management. Also in attendance for this item was Nigel Wilson, Director for Veolia Sheffield. Ms Charters referred to the vision and objectives set out in the Waste Strategy in 2009 and reported on the service changes and other external influences since 2009.  She referred to a series of graphs and charts showing the reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill and the increase in recycling from 2000/01 to 2013/14, the total of tonnage of waste for the City, the total number of kilograms of waste per person, the total number of kilograms of waste produced per household in the core cities, and the total waste produced by month during the last three years.  She then reported on the main objectives of the revised Waste Strategy, which included reducing the City’s waste, helping residents and businesses to recycle more and minimising the level of waste that goes to landfill.  Reference was made to the amounts of food and garden waste being thrown away in the black bin and Ms Charters reported statistics regarding black bin fill-up level by household size, expected increases in household waste, the effect on waste levels in the light of the forecasted population growth and waste budget expenditure.

6.3.3

Ms Charters referred to further statistics on the total tonnage on paper and card collected since April 2005 and the blue bin and blue box fill level by household size in respect of the collection of paper and card.  She concluded by reporting on proposed changes to the recycling services, based on the responses following a recent consultation exercise, together with the actions required in order to achieve expected recycling targets.

6.4

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                Whilst there had been no obvious increase in levels of fly tipping following the introduction of the alternate weekly bin collections, there were issues as to how levels of fly tipping were recorded in the City, therefore it was difficult to determine such rates with any certainty.

·                There would have to be changes in terms of what and how dry recycled material was collected, as well as further educating organisations and individuals in all aspects of recycling if the Local Authority was to achieve the 50% target rate.  One change likely to be needed to enable this target to be met was the need to collect food waste separate.

·                As well as looking at plans for improving the kerbside recycling service, there were plans to improve the City’s Recycling Centres, by reviewing the location of the Centres and the services available.

·                The existing waste contract was not seen as a barrier, although additional services would need to be paid for.

·                In terms of the anaerobic digestion process, the most cost-effective method was to use the gas produced to produce electricity to sell to the National Grid, rather than use the gas as a fuel for vehicles.

·                Whilst any changes to the service, such as increased sorting facilities and new bins, would require additional funding, such outlay would hopefully be offset by the savings made in terms of the improved service.

6.5

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the information contained in the report now submitted, the information reported as part of the presentations and the responses to the questions raised;

(b)       thanks Jenny Robinson and Gillian Charters for the presentations now made, and for responding to the questions raised;

(c)        makes the following observations in connection with proposed service changes to the Waste Strategy 2009-2020:-

(i)         need to reduce the amount of waste produced;

(ii)        need to encourage more home composting;

(iii)       need for improvements to recycling centres, including potential income from business customers;

(iv)       need to aim for zero landfill;

(v)        whilst not a statutory target, the Local Authority needs to aim towards achieving the recycling target of 50%; and

(vi)       food and garden waste appear to provide the bigger opportunity, but there are financial implications; and

(d)       requests Gillian Charters to submit a further report on the Waste Strategy to the meeting on 10^th December 2014, prior to its consideration by the Cabinet, and including information on:-

(i)         the observations and suggestions now made at this meeting;

(ii)        financial costings; and 

(iii)       best practice.