Agenda item

The report provides an update on the Council’s prototype wheeled bin and food waste collection service in the borough and shows the positive impact that it has had on recycling levels. 

Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) gave a brief presentation on the waste and recycling container project and provided a summary of the following key points:

-       The current boroughwide service was sack based for refuse and recycling with no separate food waste collection.

-       The prototype collection service for food waste and wheeled bin household waste and recycling began on 9 November 2020.

-       4,600 properties across six wards were currently operating the pilot.

-       This provided an improved service for residents by tackling limited refuse capacity and increasing recycling rates.

-       A summary was provided on the resident communication plan, including a performance update in the prototype area.

The Chair explained that the Committee had received some written questions from members of the public on the progress of the food waste collection pilot in advance of the meeting. Speakers would also be invited to ask a question or make a comment to address the main areas of concerns as follows:

Q1: Residents asked if there was a Council plan to extend the food waste collection (beyond the 6000 households) pilot scheme across the borough? The majority of residents within the borough live in flats, estates, and multi-occupation premises. What steps are being taken to explore schemes that can extend food waste collection for these residents?

Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) confirmed that the Council continued to monitor the impact of the prototype scheme. Given the seasonality of waste, officers needed to ensure they had over a years’ worth of learning from the prototype scheme including feedback from flats and estates across the borough.

The Council’s vision of getting the views of residents and elected members was important to the pilot. Co-production with residents would form part of any recommendations put forward for any future extension of the scheme, as well as considerations relating to the specification for the new waste management contract from 2023 onwards. Officers would seek residents’ views of the prototype service through survey work in June and July 2022.

The Council was also working to introduce food waste recycling in education establishments within the prototype area.

Officers were following the Mayor of London Environment strategy which aimed by 2026 for no biodegradable waste to be sent to landfill. This was being achieved by the Council, and by 2030, the target of 65% of London’s municipal waste would be recycled. There were powers in the new Environment Bill 2021 to ensure all Councils operated weekly separate food waste collections, preventing food waste from going to landfill or being incinerated. Officers were awaiting guidance on the Environment Bill implementation.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler explained that she had received some concerns raised by residents in relation to the containers not being returned to the relevant properties. She enquired how this would be resolved with the operatives. In response Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) noted that this was due to lack of supervision and training provided to agency staff. Officers were working with Serco’s management team to ensure that the standard of the service provided by the operatives would be improved going forward.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler asked for further clarification to be provided on when a full consultation for the food waste collection pilot would be carried out. In response Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) explained that the need to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and to keep residents and colleagues safe had restricted the project to written or telephone communication beyond July 2021. The next steps to measure resident views on the service would be to carry out survey work in the prototype service areas in June and July 2022. This would be achieved through door-to-door engagement to ensure that the Council captured as accurate a picture of resident views as was possible.

Councillor Iain Cassidy commented that increased recycling rates in the borough were welcome and enquired what could be done to improve this further. Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) explained that providing the containerisation and food waste collection service to residents was one of the most effective ways to increase recycling rates. In addition, it would be beneficial to broaden the scheme and provide additional recycling provision to further separate household waste items, however this would be more challenging to manage in an urban environment.

Councillor Iain Cassidy enquired what the cost difference was between managing a bag of non-recyclable general waste compared to a container of recycling.  Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) noted that the exact figures would be circulated to the Committee for review.

Action: Richard Shwe

Councillor Ann Rosenberg raised some concerns around the shortage of deliveries of the clear recycling bags provided to recycle in the regions where the food waste collection pilot had not yet been implemented. Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) explained that the timeframe for these deliveries had recently been amended, however he requested that the further details of where these were not being received be sent to Officers so this could be resolved.

Action: Richard Shwe

The Chair asked for further clarification to be provided on the total number of complaints submitted to the Council as a result of the pilot and the nature of the feedback received by residents. Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) confirmed that the service had performed well with less than 48 complaints over the past 12 months, across the 4600 properties where the pilot had been delivered. These were mostly regarding container returns to properties. Positive feedback was received with an increased interest from residents to enhance the scheme in other areas across the borough.

The Chair welcomed the comprehensive updates and acknowledged that a significant amount had been achieved to increase the recycling rates within the borough.

Councillor Wesley Harcourt (Cabinet Member for the Environment) thanked Richard Shwe and David Goodship (Waste and Recycling Manager) for all the positive work that had already been implemented for this pilot.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler requested that a meeting be arranged with a group of residents who were keen to meet with Officers to discuss matters concerning the pilot scheme. Richard Shwe (Cabinet Member for the Environment) asked for their details to be forwarded to Officers so that this could be actioned.

Action: Richard Shwe

Members noted the report.