Agenda item
Waste and street cleansing services - waste collection implementation
The report provides a progress update with respect to the One Council waste and street cleansing project, in particular the performance of the waste collection and street cleansing services that were changed as part of that project.
The report will be presented by Chris Whyte, Head of Recycling and Waste.
Minutes:
Chris Whyte (Head of Recycling and Waste, Environment and Neighbourhoods) introduced the report and advised that the present recycling rate had increased from around a 30% average for 2011/12 as of October 2011, to 45% for 2012/13 as of October 2012. Measures would continue to be introduced to boost the chances of ultimately attaining the recycling rate objective of 60%. Chris Whyte referred to a number of recent initiatives outlined in the report to increase recycling rates, such as provision of caddy liners to all properties currently receiving a separate food waste collection and removal of grey refuse bins from households that were deemed to have over capacity. There had also been a successful bid leading to the receipt of grant funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government for the provision of a weekly collection of food waste from over 300 blocks of flats in the borough. A review and provision of the location of on-street recycling containers that would be relocated to more prominent places where appropriate would also be undertaken.
Turning to street cleansing, Chris Whyte advised that the street cleansing contract had been reduced by £2m in October 2011 as part of the review. In order to maintain street cleanliness standards, monitoring would be more focused on streets and areas in known problem areas and officers would dedicate more of their time in these specific locations and may include measures such as a second litter pick. Discussions were taking place with Community Engagement to deliver a concerted communications campaign to raise awareness of littering in Brent.
Chris Whyte informed the team that there had been an increase in reported fly-tipping this year. This could be attributed to the new household waste collection arrangements that restrict the volume of waste collected, the reduced frequency of street cleansing and increased commercial waste disposal charges. To address this, a restructuring of Recycling and Waste to create a new team, Environmental Crime Prevention, combining graffiti work and waste enforcement, would be undertaken to tackle such issues. Members heard that it was a priority to focus on waste enforcement, particularly in respect of business waste and fly tips. Chris Whyte advised that despite the reduction in resources in October 2011, cleansing scores had help up. In the longer term, the procurement of a public realm contract represented a significant piece of work that would have wider implications.
During discussion by Members, further explanation was sought as to what determined the removal of grey bins and could this lead to overspill or contamination of recycled waste. It was queried whether landlords were provided guidance with regard to waste to ensure that their tenants recycled waste properly and was there a database containing their details. The present recycling rate was noted and it was enquired what measures were being put in place to reach the ultimate target of 60% and when would this target be realised. Comparisons of recycling rates with other London boroughs were also sought. It was commented that some caddy liners were not being used and this could partly be attributed to their function not being explained clearly to residents and this area could be investigated further. With regard to educating residents of the importance of recycling, Councillor Lorber referred to the ‘Green Zones’ initiative of a few years ago, which he felt had been am effective, residents based scheme and at little financial cost and he enquired if such a campaign was to be revived. The use of ‘chuggers’ as used by charities could also be used to help persuade residents the benefits of recycling.
With regard to street cleansing, Members sought explanations as to the reasons why some areas would receive bespoke cleaning arrangements and what other areas as well as Harlesden Town Centre mentioned in the report received such services. Councillor Pavey requested a list of any such streets in the Barnhill ward. It was enquired if waste collection arrangements existed for charities. Details were sought with regard to the frequency of monitoring of street cleansing and were there any figures with regard to incidents of fly tipping and would this have a negative impact on recycling rates. The Chair commented that recycling banks were often hotspots for fly tipping and could maps be provided highlighting where these hotspots were located in the borough. He added that relocating street recycling bins might go some way to addressing this issue. Members also sought further information in respect of progress being made with regard to the financial savings of the waste and street cleansing project.
In reply to the issues raised by Members, Chris Whyte advised that waste planning guidance based grey bins allocation on the size of the household and number of occupants. Where there was clearly an excessive number of grey bins, these would be removed and replaced with recycling bins. In the case of incidences of overspill or contamination of recycling waste, a measured approach would be taken depending on the individual circumstances of the household involved. Steps involved included writing to the household in advance advising them of the problems identified and what action they can take to address this and an involved dialogue would take place with residents to resolve the issue. The committee heard that any known landlords from the database were provided with guidance in respect of waste which they could then inform their tenants of, although it was acknowledged that sometimes a lack of information was a factor. However, efforts would be focused in particular on those living at the household to change their waste habits accordingly. The committee heard that separate arrangements with charity organisations were made with regard to waste collection.
Chris Whyte confirmed that the current 45% recycling rate was in line with the recycling model and it was felt that 50% would be achieved by 2014. He advised that the ultimate recycling target of 60% was ambitious and considerably higher than recycling rates for local authorities in urban areas. To reach such a target would require fundamental changes in the way that waste was handled, however new opportunities to increase the recycling rate further would be explored when pursuing the new waste and recycling contract. Members noted that Brent was estimated to be amongst the top seven highest London boroughs for recycling rates, with the highest being Bexley at 49%. With regard to the proposed communications campaign, this would focus on specific issues such as litter near schools and from fast food takeaways. Attempts would also be made to involve local community groups in providing information to help deliver the campaign. Chris Whyte advised that locations which frequently suffered from fly tipping were mapped and these could be provided to Members, however it was difficult to ascertain the reasons why these locations had been chosen, although they usually occurred at night time. Where fly tipping was a frequent occurrence at recycling banks, these would be removed. Chris Whyte explained that where there was evidence of street cleansing scores not holding up, which was usually in streets near busy high roads, resources would be applied accordingly to improve cleanliness. As well as Harlesden, there were also other locations, mainly in the south of the borough, where this was an issue and another example included Chaplin Road just off Ealing Road. Chris Whyte agreed to provide details of any streets in the Barnhill ward area where street cleansing scores had suffered to Councillor Pavey.
Turning to savings, Chris Whyte informed Members that the budget for street cleansing had been reduced, whilst the waste costings were not currently within budget this year as efficiency targets were not being met. Further improvements in performance were needed to address this, particularly as landfill tax costs continued to rise. Chris Whyte advised that even though the overall amount of waste was reducing, it was not at a sufficient rate to keep up with the rising landfill costs. The reduction in waste had been 3%, however a 7% reduction was needed to reduce costs, whilst recycling would also need to be at 50%. Furthermore, the loss of a waste sorting facility at Park Royal following the West London Waste Authority’s decision to withdraw it also hindered recycling rates. Members noted that the forecast overspend for 2012/13 was £560k.
Peter Stachniewski (Head of One Council Programme, Strategy, Partnerships and Improvement) added that the savings targets had focused on reducing spending on street cleansing, whilst efficiency measures were put in place to achieve savings for waste collection. However, the waste collection savings did not deliver the savings anticipated and this area would need to be reconsidered. He advised that the largest single aspect of savings was achieved through preventing waste going to landfill and growth provision for landfill waste had been removed from the budget as an incentive to increase recycling, however landfill charges had continued to rise. Landfill waste had actually reduced from 103,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes, however this was still short of the 97,000 tonnes target.
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