Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T Clements, Dr S Peaple and K Norchi.

Councillor J Chesworth reported for transparency reasons that he had been the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Culture which included the portfolio for waste management until May 2021 which covered the period prior to any decisions in respect of this contract being made.

(Discussion Item)

The Chair reported that this meeting had been called to consider the Cabinet decision on 9^th September 2021 in respect of the Future Dry Recycling Update, and in particular to consider the practicalities of the collection method proposed as opposed to the necessity of moving to a dual stream process.

The Chair invited the Portfolio Holder for Economy and Waste to provide an overview to the Committee of the current recycling position in the Borough and the steps taken to consider the future provision.  He reported that following changes to the recycling market, only quality recycled material would be accepted and that co-mingled waste (as currently collected) had to be cleaned which had additional cost implications.  The current contract for the disposal of dry waste was due to expire in March 2022 and therefore work had commenced to identify options for future provision.  The results of the tender process undertaken indicated that to be an effective and affordable service it would require a move to dual stream service which produced a quality product. 

Given that, the Portfolio Holder reported that there were options appraised for moving to a dual stream process which included as alternatives the handing back to the County Council of the waste disposal responsibility and alternative methods of collection.  In terms of methods of collection, options included:

·       the use of a separate bin for paper / card and a separate bin for other recycling (plastics and tins) with one of the two bins collected every two weeks with the black bins collected every alternate two weeks.

·       the use of bag for paper / card and a bin for other recycling (plastics and tins) which would both be collected every two weeks, with the black bins collected in the alternate two weeks.

In terms of the costs associated with the equipment required for the alternative options, the Portfolio Holder reported that the additional costs of using two recycling bins (as opposed to one bin and one bag) including the costs of any delay to the implementation of dual streaming which would be expected if there was a requirement to procure bins (with a longer lead time) rather than bags amounted to an additional £1million.  Furthermore by the end of July 2021, the Council, together with Lichfield District Council, had agreed that, if the disposal responsibility were retained with the Borough / District, the County Council would make a 50% contribution to the additional disposal costs. 

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that an option had been considered to use a bin within a bin, but that there were considered to be operational issues for the crew with this option which involved a significant degree of lifting for staff.

The Chief Executive reported that there was urgency to this process as the contribution for the County Council was time limited and required the new arrangements to be implemented by the end of June 2022.

The Committee sought clarifications in the following areas:

·       whether the decision been made to move to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.