Agenda item

The committee considered the joint report of the Assistant Chief Executive and Corporate Director Neighbourhoods which provided members with supporting information in advance of the update on the waste programme (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

A Patrickson, Head of Projects and Business Services provided members with a presentation which provided details of the garden waste review, waste transfer stations and the campaigns update (for copy of slides, see file of minutes).

Members were advised in relation to garden waste collections that the assumptions were that they would have a take up of 40% and 60% tonnage of previous. The outcome was that they had a 35% take up and tonnage of 71% of previous. The financial model estimated a balance of £976k but the current outturn estimates was £1.120k. Details of the major variances were provided together with a SWOT analysis.

Customer feedback indicated that 358 complaints had been received about the service since it was launched, the majority related to missed bins. 5 of the complaints were referred to the ombudsman and 155 requests had been received to extend or review the collection dates.

In conclusion, the scheme had been successful financially, the objectives had been met and negative feedback had been limited. Moving forward in 2016 they were going to increase marketing of the 240 litre bin option, consider charities churches etc. where criteria was met, more visibility of summary of terms and conditions on letter and increase the collections to 17.

Members were provided with photographs of the waste transfer stations which were transferred back to Durham County Council following Premier Waste Management being wound up. The stations were located at Station Grove in Barnard Castle, Heighington Lane in Newton Aycliffe, Annfield Plaine and Thornley. All were in poor condition but capital money had been secured to refurbish the sites and replace the majority of the Thornley facility.

Members were updated on the Bin it right campaign, Durham City University Student Campaign and Green Move Out Campaign. The Bin it Right Campaign had been so successful engaging with over 19,000 members of the public and delivering 2,813 recycling boxes and bags. Durham City University Student Campaign and the Green Move Out had been extremely successful and had extended a reuse scheme for small appliances used by the university for student who live out. The Committee was advised that the County Council had secured £30,906 funding from the increasing recycling through local communication fund that is run in conjunction with Sainsburys Supermarkets. Durham County Council was one of eight local authorities to receive funding which aims to compliment the Bin it Right campaign and is for residents who are good recyclers.

The Chairman thanked the Officer for a very informative presentation and asked members for questions.

Councillor Holland referred to the Durham City University Student Campaign and complimented the team on their work which was outstanding. He asked if the garden waste could be taken to SETA to be used as energy.

The Officer responded that it was more financially viable to treat separately as it was £20-£22 a ton to compost or £78 a ton plus transport to send to a plant.

Councillor Stradling commented that it was good that there was going to be an extra collection but more checks of the contents of the bins needed to be carried out. He also commented that not everyone who was using the service had paid.

The Officer responded that they encouraged people to share bins but it was not an offence to put green waste into your refuse bin.

Councillor Adam referred to the complaints received and sought clarification if action had been taken. The Officer responded that the majority of complaints were in relation to missed bins, which in comparison to the number of bins was small but each complaint had been investigated.

Councillor Clare praised the service but sought clarification on the tonnage for waste which was 70% and 30% for garden waste at a cost of £70 for a bin and £20 for a green bin and was this hidden cost shown in the savings.

The Officer responded that they couldn’t measure how much green waste was placed in refuse bins but this had been taken into conisation into the model but was an estimate as they did not measure it. They had tracked where the garden waste was going, which was the recycling centres but they had not seen an increase in fly tipping or an increase in waste. It was thought that people were composting and a few were placing green waste into the refuse bin.

Councillor Clark referred to the bins which were no longer used and indicated that she had made a request for some bins to be collected but this had not been done. Some of the bins were full with rubbish from previous tenants.

The Officer responded that he would chase this up but they only removed bins when requested as there was a cost implication and as there was a cost for the service the bins needed to be in good condition.

Councillor E Bell sought clarification on the average life span of a bin and if they would replace a bin and if there was a cost.

The Officer responded that if a bin was well looked after it would last decades but if it was at the end of its life they would replace at no cost.

Resolved: That the contents of the report be noted.