Agenda item - More recycling, less waste - a new collection model

57. More recycling, less waste – a new collection model

57.1    Cllr Rowkins gave a brief introduction to the item; that improving recycling rates is a priority and that plastic tubs and trays have been added to the list of items that can now be recycled and there has been a roll out of weekly food waste collections. 38% of the composition of general waste is food waste; this combined with plastics, cartons and foil means that a large amount of waste has been removed from general waste bins leaving them half empty. This raises the question of whether it makes sense to continue to drive around the city collecting half empty bins. Other councils including Lewes District Council have switched to fortnightly collections, others are doing 3 or 4 weekly. They are looking into what a fortnightly model would look like and no decisions have yet been made. There will be a consultation with residents and a decision would be made later in the year. This would only affect kerbside waste collections, not communal bins. The service has had some wobbles recently, but they continue to work on improvements.

57.2    Cllr Fowler said that this is a good idea as she has found that her bin is now half empty, however, she asked about people who don’t recycle properly who may end up with overflowing bins and how to encourage them to recycle. Cllr Rowkins agreed that in his household the general waste bin is much emptier due to the additional items that can now be recycled. There is an issue of contamination for those people who do not recycle correctly and it is a change of habit that is needed. Once the additional items for recycling have been introduced, the team will increase messaging and signage and do a big communications campaign on it.

57.3    Cllr Meadows said that there is an issue with student HMOs who do not recycle properly; that updating people with information on new recycling regimes on the website is not good enough as people don’t check it regularly; that the report mentions missed collections due to illegally parked cars and asked how the new law on pavement parking might affect this; that the Cabinet paper talks about consultation and asked if this will come back to scrutiny; that the 99% rubbish collection statistic has been queried by residents on social media; that the impact of the expansion of materials that can be recycled has not yet been proven; and they need to use social media better to let residents know about their plans. Cllr Rowkins agreed that students HMOs are a key area for messaging and they will work with the universities and letting agents on this, that they acknowledge they will need to use physical leaflets for messaging to ensure all residents have the information they need, that the pavement parking ban may have an impact but they have smaller waste vehicles that can access the more narrower roads, the outcome to the consultation will likely come back to scrutiny and that the 99% figure is correct although it has dropped since the issues experienced at Christmas. Ali Mcmanamon added that they have bid for a fully funded intern from the University of Sussex to take on the social media campaign for this.

57.4    Cllr Sykes asked whether sanctions would be introduced for incorrect use of recycling bins, and whether they have any figures on the financial impact of changing to a fortnightly collection model. Cllr Rowkins said they are not considering sanctions and that the financial savings would comes from running fewer vehicles. There was a significant investment in introducing the food waste service and making it efficient and this isn’t a cost saving exercise. They introduced the 2pm crews to scoop up missed collections from that morning but that there have been staffing issues and two new crews are currently being trained to take this on.

57.5    Cllr Cattell said that residents were unhappy that the reporting missed collections website doesn’t always working and is it important to ensure the technology is doing what it needs to. Cllr Cattell also said that paper communications is important and people need to know what they can do, such as larger families can request a larger bin. Cllr Rowkins said that the whole service is digital now; they launched a real time information service online, that missed collections can be reported by residents which is more efficient, as they used to have to wait until the crew returned to the depot with scraps of paper; now they know which bins have been missed straight away and can rectify this. The website may seem to not work but this is because once a missed collection has been reported once it has been logged and residents can’t report multiple times.

57.6    Cllr Winder said that the strength of the process is the careful approach to allow people to get used to things; what is the next phase and expectations of ongoing change? Cllr Winder also asked how the workforce feel about these changes. Cllr Rowkins said they purposefully sequenced the changes for this reason but it needs to be clear to everyone what can and what can’t be recycled, which bin to put what in and acknowledged that communal bins now have incorrect signage which needs to be rectified. Residents need to have confidence that what is put in recycling bins are actually recycled, which helps with behaviour change. There is a conspiracy theory that everything ends up at the incinerator which is a myth and not helpful in instilling confidence from residents. The workforce have a different attitude now; Cllr Rowkins spoke to the Food Waste Drivers who said it’s the best job in the world, they have brand new vehicles and enjoy being part of a new service to residents. They leave the depot at 3am and the job is hard work. Unfortunately, some collections were missed around Christmas due to ice and some workers slipped and were injured. The managers deemed it unsafe and suspended the service. Ali Mcmanamon added that there is a positive energy at the depot with a lot of changes being made including greater investment in vehicles, systems and technology. Managers are going out with the crews and fully understand the service and engaging with people face to face.

57.7    Bernadete Kent (OPC) asked about the equality implications as the elderly are an increasing demographic in the city; that any research or feedback needs to include the Older Peoples’ Council and they need to bear in mind that the elderly are not so digitally minded and can get confused as to what goes in what bin. They need to think about how to get these messages across, possibly in libraries or GP surgeries. She also asked about the communal bins in the city centre that get full very quickly and how a fortnightly collection would affect that. Mark Strong (CVS) added that people with learning difficulties, especially those living alone, also find it confusing. Cllr Rowkins said a full EIA will be undertaken and the consultation will involve focus groups to understand how the changes affect people and so mitigations can be put in place. They don’t want to rely too much on digital communications but physical paper is expensive but they recognise this needs to be done. Communal bins will not be affected by any changes in collection. The future aim is to have sensors on these bins to judge how full they are.

57.8    Mark Strong (CVS) said that the local groups he represents can help with cascading this information through local newsletters and other means, that they need to be mindful not to create more waste with physical leaflets and targeted communications would be effective. Cllr Rowkins welcomed help from local groups and was happy to attend any meetings.

57.9    Cllr Fishleigh asked about the problems encountered during the Christmas period and said that East Saltdean had no missed collections. Cllr Fishleigh said leaflets were promised to residents in her ward but never appeared and questioned why £500k was being spent on a report when she would prefer that money to be spent on a new lorry, more staff and better IT systems. Cllr Rowkins explained that the conditions were unsafe so the decision was made to suspend the service as people moving heavy bins in black ice is a different situation to the bus service that still ran. Managers couldn’t conduct a risk assessment in the dark so the service started late and at the time the 2pm crews were not available. They are investing in new vehicles and drivers but the fleet was 15+ years old and the number of new vehicles is limited as it takes a while for them to be delivered once requested. In relation to the costs, this would also be used to distribute the physical leaflets although they are looking into cheaper ways to do this but acknowledged that Saltdean did not get them. Lewes District Council did have missed collections over Christmas. Ali Mcmanamon added that the money is also going towards fleet investment, recruiting drivers, project team costs including communications and data specialists, and a review of the 190 collection rounds which they are doing in collaboration with the workforce. Essentially, this is a broader transformation of the service.

57.10 Cllr Evans said that going ahead without consultation would upset residents so they have to do it. She asked about the review of the rounds and whether this would have to be repeated if Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) meant the boundaries would change, and that putting the leaflets with council tax bills could be a way of reducing cost. Cllr Rowkins said that they are expecting the outcome of LGR soon and this will form part of the review. Leaflets have gone out with council tax bills in the past but the timing is unlikely to work for this year.

57.11  Cllr Meadows said the budget papers said that they would charge for a change of bins, and asked whether the fortnightly collection was prelude to a 4 day working week for staff. Cllr Rowkins said this was not the case and they only charge for lost or damaged bins.

57.12  Mark Strong said that the average household produces 70 kilos of food waste per year and whether they could do any messaging to people not to buy more than they need or to take any excess to a food bank. Cllr Rowkins said the food waste bins should hopefully highlight to people how much waste they are producing and change their behaviours based on this.

57.13  Cllr Mackey said that the information stickers on communal bins in the street and blocks are not legible anymore and need to be replaced. Cllr Rowkins said the information is now out of date anyway so they will be putting new signage in.

57.14  RESOLVED – that the report be noted