Agenda item

Stratford-on-Avon District Council:

Julie Lewis (Head of Environmental and Operational Services, SDC) said that only a small number of missed collections had been reported which was a positive performance. Sherbourne Recycling was going well, with no negative feedback. Preparations had started for communications around Christmas and Christmas trees. Garden Waste permits have exceeded sales from last year and food waste tonnage had remained high, with good participation rates.

In response to Councillor Sinclair, Julie Lewis advised that there were no additional collections for sanitary requests. These fell under the extra bin policy with 51% of requests made for medical reasons for which there had been no issues or complaints. She was aware of a request to look at medical waste and had been investigating this. Work would continue with a review, to see how to refine what was already being done.

Councillor Sinclair stated that the Coffee Pod Recycling Scheme looked very good, and he would be interested to learn how that had gone and the uptake of the recycling scheme.

Julie Lewis added that there were no additional plans to include a separate collection for textiles as this was part of the normal collection. She also expanded on and discussed sharing good practices with other authorities in both the food waste collection and 3 weekly refuse collection.

Warwick District Council:

Zoe Court (Contract Services Manager, WDC) advised that waste collection had gone well with some issues unique to the Warwick District area. A new position, Waste Education Enforcement Officer, had been filled, and they would be leading on comms for food waste. She continued with identifying some issues with fly tipping, and the new Waste Education Enforcement Officer had been out addressing some of these and some improvements were already being noted.

Councillor Roberts added that he was really pleased with the progress the new officer had made and genuine results had been noted. 

In response to the Chair, Zoe Court advised that there was a continued focus on educating about waste and recycling in Leamington Spa. There had been a recent increase in fly tipping of rubbish at public litter bins, and it was hoped that the focus education would lead to an improvement.

Councillor Sinclair questioned if the fly-tipping was linked to new collection arrangements.

Zoe Court advised that it was most common to see household waste items fly tipped in Leamington Spa centre. This problem had first been observed in August 2022. However, similar problems had not occurred in Warwick or Kenilworth.

Julie Lewis added that in Stratford District the increase in fly tipping had only been in recent months and had been more larger items and commercial waste which people could not fit into bins or take to a recycling centre.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council:

Jonathan Snell (Waste Management Supervisor, NBBC) advised that the refuse and recycling round reconfiguration started in September 2023. This had gone well, and rounds were currently finishing a lot earlier than planned however this would change as new developments came online and the system reached full capacity. A ‘Keep in Touch’ trailer event had been held at local markets which provided an effective means of engagement. Following the fatal accident earlier this year in Coventry, additional training had been completed for all crews and drivers and further training would be completed in January 2024. Recycling waste into Sherbourne had an issue at the start with contamination, but reporting is now normal with no further reported issues. A new Assistant Director for Environment and Enforcement would be appointed in January 2024 and would attend the next meeting.

North Warwickshire Borough Council:

Cath James (Interim Corporate Director – Streetscape, NWBC) discussed the pilot scheme of direct delivery and double handling with Sherbourne and analysing the carbon footprint. Communications about Christmas collections had been sent to residents as well as the postponement of green waste collection till the new year. She described an incident of a compactor fire in the back of a refuse truck due to a battery. As a result, extra communications would be sent out to residents about safe disposal of batteries. There was a focus on health and safety for refuse collection. She provided details of the contract with Biffa, including independent external monitoring arrangements where a report would be sent right away with education opportunities for all crews. She mentioned that the Council was interested in food waste and enhancing recycling options in the future.

Rugby Borough Council:

Councillor Watson-Merret commented on Sherbourne and the interest in recycling after a visit to the plant but was waiting on Comms to be released by Sherbourne. She was encouraged to see good annual statistics; however, there were areas to improve on. Developments and new builds were adding more pressure to refuse and recycling. Rural fly tipping had caused problems but not as much as had been anticipated. She advised that refuse collection crews and drivers had expressed some reluctance to use the onboard system as they had been advised by Unions that it was not safe to use. More assistance and training would be needed around utilising the system safely. She provided details of food waste collections and funding, and how these would be managed going forward.

Warwickshire County Council:

Ruth Dixon (Lead Commissioner - Waste Strategy and Contracts, WCC)shared a presentation on Behaviour Change campaigns and discussed the different campaigns running over the autumn and winter, including a composting workshop, and understanding electronic recycling. A Christmas promotion was ongoing. This was aimed at reducing waste at Christmas, and included newsletters about food reduction, Christmas tree recycling, and general packaging and wrapping recycling. She provided details of community events. The offer was made from the Waste Team at Warwickshire County Council to support colleagues from all district and borough councils who would like to run face to face events in town centres. She provided details of school visits and assemblies and the different categories of education offered, including discussions with staff and kitchen helpers about food waste and reduction. Interested schools could sign up at Warwickshire Waste Education.

Andrew Pau (Head of Waste and Country Parks, WCC) discussed customer satisfaction surveys around household waste and recycling centres which commenced in December 2023 (Warwickshire County Council Recycling Centre Survey - Warwickshire County Council - Citizen Space). The survey was online and would close in January 2024. Face to face interactions were planned to follow the online surveys in 2024.

Andrew Pau provided details of the Government’s guidance for charges around household DIY waste at recycling centres. This would be investigated with the possibility to revise figures and details. The Government had requested that this be implemented by 1 January 2024 and efforts had been made to have communications out by that date.

Andrew Pau mentioned waste composition analysis which was proposed to be carried out in the spring. He offered further support to councils with kerbside collection of food waste and the implementation of this with government help.

In response to Councillor Sinclair, Andrew Pau replied to say that both users and non-users of the facilities had been invited to take part in the online survey with face-to-face interactions happening at recycling facilities with those that use it.

In response to Councillor Baxter-Payne, Andrew Pau stated that there may be an increase in DIY tonnage including plasterboard and more recycling. This could lead to increased costs. However, plasterboard recycling arrangements were working well. Better incentives could reduce fly tipping of plasterboard and other commercial waste.

Councillor Baxter-Payne highlighted that recycled plasterboard could be used as soil fertiliser. Andrew Pau stated that different ways of recycling were always being investigated. The current plasterboard contract included recycling of the plasterboard. He also gave an example of mattress recycling and stated it was a balance between ensuring everything was recycled but at a beneficial cost.