To include an overview of the letters received by WCAs regarding Capital costs of food waste and any future plans for implementation.
Minutes:
This item was presented by Ruth Dixon who updated the group with the following points.
· Food Waste: Each of the waste collection authorities had received a letter from DEFRA, regarding funding for food waste collections that needed to be in place by March 2025.
Ruth invited the Councils to share updates with the partnership.
Alastair Blunkett, Assistant Director for Environment and Enforcement Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council (NBBC) stated that they had received information on capital funding, but nothing on revenue funding and felt DEFRA had underestimated the amount required, so had written to them. The council was not asking for more than needed but was short, for example there was not enough to fund the required kitchen caddies to implement. There was also no element for communication / promotion of the service or delivery of containers. Alistair advised that they were working with WRAP to understand what would need to be organised to move this work forward.
Zoe Court, Contract Services Manager, Warwick District Council (WDC) commented that they had already implemented the food waste collection and confirmed that the funding provided did not cover their actual costs. WDC had completed and submitted forms and paperwork to claim the spent money back. As the council had already gone through the process of delivering caddies, Zoe offered to discuss with others who were about to embark on the project.
Councillor Carolyn Watson-Merret, (RBC) confirmed that they also had not been offered enough funding to cover costs. The Council had contacted the local MP to discuss the issue and to put their concerns in writing.
Andrew Pau advised that the Severn Trent Green Power (STGP) contract for processing separately collected food waste was open to all boroughs and districts in the county with Stratford District and Warwick District already using the facility.
Andrew thanked Alastair Blunkett (NWBC) who had organised joint meetings with NBBC, NWBC and RBC to work together on this. He was encouraged that Boroughs and District Councils had been offered capital funding, however, he was disappointed that there was no clarity on revenue funding. Central government had stipulated that the scheme should be up and running by 1 April 2026. Andrew Pau addressed Councillor Bell’s previous comment about the availability of food waste caddies and agreed that there would be pressure to have enough of these supplied to all authorities, however, Warwickshire County Council was well positioned as an authority to get this done as opposed to other authorities as the processing facility is already in place. WCC was happy to support waste collection authorities where possible.
In response to Councillor Carolyn Watson-Merret (RBC), Andrew Pau advised that collection of food waste from areas across the County to STGP AD Facility was being worked on. Bulk and transport haulage had been set up for SDC and WDC and they were eager to work with other District and Borough Councils to make this work. Some would be able to manage direct delivery to the facility whilst others would be able to make use of bulking and haulage. Andrew continued, advising that capital funding would not be able to build facilities to store and transport waste, but the County Council wanted to work with each authority to come up with the best solution for each.
Ruth Dixon continued the update with the following points from DEFRA.
· Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme – new administrator steering group with three senior officer appointments.
· Ruth encouraged the group to sign up for the DEFRA newsletter by visiting the web address https://tinyurl.com/2zhyh4fn as well as signing up for monthly forums.
· Extended producer responsibility payments – this was still on schedule to be announced in November 2024.
· Ban on disposable vapes – draft legislation which could be commented on until 25 March 2024. A stakeholder engagement session would be held on 19 March 2024.
· Digital Waste Tracking – Scheduled to commence by April 2025. This would have an impact on all authorities transporting waste around the county and country and on the relevant digital paperwork that would need to be in place.
· DIY waste changes to Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRC), commenced in January 2024 and gave households a more generous quota of DIY waste that they could bring into a HWRC.
· Litter and fly-tipping statutory guidance – A consultation would be held in the near future but will only be for a four-week period. Authorities would need to be ready to engage quickly.