Agenda item

Waste Partners Update

Warwick District Council (WDC)

Katy Wild (Contract Operations and Performance Officer) advised that there was nothing additional to add to the written report.

North Warwickshire Borough Council (NWBC)

Rob Bellamy (Interim Head of Streetscape) gave an update on the following points:

·     A response from DEFRA had been received regarding the funding for the food waste collection and planned to challenge this when further information was received.

·     Several fires had been reported in waste collection vehicles due to lithium batteries. The Communications team were running a successful campaign on the fire risk of putting batteries in bins.

Claire Preston (RBC) added that joint comms around batteries would be beneficial to the whole of Warwickshire. There was a general discussion around what information the Communications would contain, and it was agreed that a county wide message, especially around hazardous waste was important, with print as well as online campaigns. The conversation also included a discussion around the recycling of vapes with Ruth Dixon advising that all recycling centres can take vapes for recycling however, only Princes Drive HWRC could take NOx (nitrogen Oxides) canisters.

Rugby Borough Council (RBC)

Claire Preston advised that there was nothing extra to add to the written report. She informed the partnership that the Rugby team were going through a challenging time with staff absences.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council (NBBC)

Alastair Blunkett had nothing additional to add from the report but reported that a sticker system was being used on oversized cardboard advising of why it could not be collected. A discussion followed around the education of recycling cardboard.

Stratford District Council (SDC)

Craig Bourne (Operational Services Manager) elaborated on the Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel planned to be used in place of diesel fuel for frontline vehicles in Stratford, this was to commence in July 2024. Warwickshire County Council discussed the trial run by Fire and Rescue and the cost this incurred.  

Warwickshire County Council (WCC)

Presented by Ruth Dixon, the following points were discussed.

·        Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC)

o   Some operational issues caused a slight increase in costs.

o   The booking system was working well as the HWRC’s were getting increasingly busy over summer and during weekends. Andrew Pau added that it was advisable to book a slot as some centres were looking at turning people away who had not booked and where there was no capacity to accommodate extra visitors. It was emphasised that this was only when there was no capacity. Wednesday evening slots were to continue at those sites open on a Wednesday with the closing times confirmed to be 6.15pm (this did not include Shipston). There was a general discussion about visitors wanting access to the shop on site. At this time, no additional communications around booking slots had been decided.

·        Composting workshops were held over spring and were very well received. These along with food waste reduction ideas would continue to be promoted.

·        A staff upcycling clothing event was held recently at Warwickshire County Council. Once the case study was completed it would be shared with local authorities.

·        A tender for the Reuse shops was scheduled to go out ready for November 2024. It would be separated into two sections, north and south.

RESOLVED: The Waste Partnership acknowledged the updates on the various waste activities taking place in each area since the last partnership meeting in March 2024.