Agenda and minutes

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor D Cotton (West Lindsey District Council) be elected as Vice Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership.

RESOLVED

            That Councillor D Cotton be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for the ensuing year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M Brookes (Boston Borough Council), R Wright (North Kesteven District Council) and D Cotton (West Lindsey District Council).

An apology for absence was also received from Simon Mitchel (Environment Agency) and Steve Willis (Lincolnshire County Council).

There were no declarations of interest at this point of the meeting.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 April 2015 be signed by the     Chairman as a correct record.

Members of the Partnership were updated on progress since the last meeting and the following was noted:

Minute 52a – District Heating

It was reported that the first meeting had taken place and a consultant had been appointed.  An £18,000 grant had been received from the Department for Energy and Climate Change had been received to start work on the first phase of mapping the heat requirements for the whole of greater Lincoln.  It was hoped that results would be reported back by Christmas 2015.

It was confirmed that the electricity being produced by the Energy from Waste facility was being fed back into the grid, enough to power about 26,000 houses.  It was important that there was a balance between the amount of heat and electricity which was used.

Minute 52b – Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS)

The last strategy was produced in 2008, and they should be refreshed every 5 years, but there were currently resourcing implications..

Minute 52c – Mixed Dry Recycling Contract

The contract had now been awarded to Mid-UK for a period of 2 years and 9 months. 

In response to a query, it was reported that as each authority presented a different mix of waste, with a different value, there were currently different gate fees for different authorities.

It was noted that the quality of recyclables was something which needed to be dealt with as a partnership, as there was a need to improve the quality of the materials.  However, it was also noted that there were other external factors which affected the gate fee and caused it to increase.

For the benefit of the new members to the Partnership, officers explained the meaning of TEEP (Technically, Environmentally, Economically Practicable).

(To provide Members of the Lincolnshire waste Partnership with an opportunity to update the rest of the Partnership on any developments within their areas which may affect or be of interest to the Partnership as a whole)

Members of the Partnership were provided with the opportunity to update the rest of the Partners on any developments within their individual Districts which may be of interest, and the following was reported:

East Lindsey District Council – there were no changes to the service to report.  However, it was noted that the authority was facing additional pressures due to the removal of Cranberry Composting.  The additional costs could be in the region of £6,000.  The Partnership was advised that the County Council would cover this cost, as it was an operational issue.

City of Lincoln Council – there were no operational changes to report.  It was noted that the green waste scheme had been relaunched and had already exceeded last year's figures.  This was the third year of charging for collection of green waste and each year the number of people using the service had been tracked.  It was thought that these figures were encouraging.

West Lindsey District Council – recycling was being delivered to both Louth and Gainsborough Waste Transfer Stations, and this had freed up some capacity and so a re-routing exercise was being carried out.

It was also noted that the rental period on two depots was coming to an end, a review of all sites was currently underway.

It was also reported that there had been a lot of positive feedback regarding the new HWRC in Gainsborough.

Boston Borough Council – there were no changes to report, but it was noted that the Waste Transfer Station was going well.

North Kesteven District Council – a formal ban on green waste in residual waste would be introduced, due to the numbers of bins that had been rejected.

A waste policy document was due to go before the Executive for approval the following week, but it was noted that this document was made up of a number of different documents which had been pulled together including waste policy and service guarantees.  It was commented that this was being well received by councillors.  It was queried whether this could be brought to a future meeting of the Partnership.

It was also reported that officers would be attending a National Health and Safety working group with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and some of the documentation to be used had been developed in Lincolnshire, and this could be used to form a national approach.  It was also suggested that this documentation be brought to a future meeting of the Partnership.

South Kesteven District Council – it was reported that finance continued to be an issue following the loss of recycling credits, but there were transition payments left in the budget.

Contamination in recycling was becoming a bigger issue, and it was thought that recycling performance could drop by 5-6% if the levels of contamination continued.

South Holland District Council – the Green Bag Lottery Scheme had worked extremely well, and a 20% rise in material collected had been seen.  However, due to cost pressures it would not be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55e

The Terms of Reference were presented to the Partnership and members were advised to contact the Democratic Services Officer with any proposed changes.

RESOLVED

            That the Terms of Reference be noted.

(To receive a presentation from Mark Taylor, North Kesteven District Council)

The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership received a presentation from Mark Taylor, North Kesteven District Council which set out the advantages and disadvantages and the proposal for closer working on waste between the Waste Disposal Authority (LCC) and the Waste Collection Authorities (District Councils).

Members of the Partnership discussed the presentation and some of the points noted included the following:

·         If the LWP was a business, the Partnership would instead be a Board and would have executive powers.  It was queried whether there was a desire to move towards becoming a decision making body.

·         If things were to change it would be a political issue.

·         It was commented that it would be the Chief Executives and Leaders who would make the final decision, the Partnership could only advise.

·         It was commented that anything that makes things more efficient and reduced the cost to the Lincolnshire tax payer should be encouraged.

·         There would still be a need for managers who would deal with day to day operational issues.

·         There was a need for greater understanding about what was meant by efficiencies, particularly in relation to finances.

·         It was hoped that there would be openness and transparency throughout this process, and members were informed that this was a key objective of the proposal.

·         One of the risks would be if there were savings made from the collections, would there be an issue regarding how they would be identified and shared?

RESOLVED

            That the presentation and points made during discussion be noted.

The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership received an update in relation to the Energy from Waste Facility and it was noted that members of the Partnership would receive a tour of the facility following the close of the meeting.  Members were informed that if they would like to return at a later date a more detailed tour could be arranged, which would require full PPE and an induction.

The Partnership was advised that there were a lot of visits from schools, as well as scout groups etc. as education was a major part of this project.

It was reported that the authority was working with FCC, the operator, in relation to increasing the capacity of the plant to take an extra 20,000 tonnes of waste per year.  It was hoped that this would go to the meeting of the Planning and Regulation Committee either at the end of July 2015 or on 7 September 2015.

The facility had been designed so it could link directly into a district heating scheme.

FCC had agreed to release the gate fees to the District Councils, but only under a signed confidentiality agreement which was still to be drafted.  Districts would be formally asked if they would like to enter into this agreement.

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership received an update which provided them with an overview of the work of the Officer Working Group.  It was reported that this group met approximately every 6 weeks and discussed a range of issues.  The work of this Group would drive the agenda for the Partnership and it was suggested it may be useful if the minutes of the Officer Working Group were shared with the Partnership.

It was reported that there were two main issues to be brought to the attention of the Partnership as follows:

1 – Clinical Waste

This related to the collection of sharps, which were items which could not be placed in conventional waste.  It had been noted that all Districts had a different way of providing this service.  However, now Public Health was within the County Council, the relevant officer had been found in order to try and progress a definitive approach with Public Health and the PCT's.  A meeting would be taking place on 23 July 2015 with Public Health and the PCT's to discuss this issue.  A report would be brought back to the next meeting of the Partnership.

2 – Road Traffic Accidents (RTA)

This was another issue where all Districts had a different approach and related to who was responsible for clearing the road following an accident.  Partners were advised that legal advice was being sought on this, as the legislation had been shared with the Officer Working Group, but it could be interpreted in different ways.  Once the advice had been received from Counsel it would be shared with the Partnership.