Agenda and minutes

In line with the Terms of Reference, it was proposed and seconded that Councillor E Poll remain as Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for a second consecutive year.

RESOLVED

            That Councillor E J Poll be elected as Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for 2018/19.

COUNCILLOR E J POLL IN THE CHAIR

In line with the Terms of Reference, it was proposed and seconded that Councillor R Gambba-Jones (South Holland District Council) remain as Vice-Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for a second consecutive year.

RESOLVED

            That Councillor R Gambba-Jones be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership FOR 2018/19.

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor J Summers (West Lindsey District Council), Steve Bird (City of Lincoln Council), Emily Spicer (South Holland District Council) and Ian Yates (South Kesteven District Council).

Councillor D McNally (Lincolnshire County Council) was also welcomed to the meeting as Councillor Poll's new Executive Support Councillor.

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

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2018 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

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;

South Kesteven District Council – it was reported that the food waste trial was now up and running, there had been a few operational issues initially, but the trial was now running according to plan.  The public response had been mainly positive, most of the issues had been from people who were not in the trial area but wanted to be.  It seemed that there was a huge appetite from the public for this.  The trial had now been running for 5 weeks.  Officers commented that this trial had changed things in their own household, and as a family were now wasting 3kgs less food per week.  The trial had been quite useful so far in making people realise how much food they threw away.  However, it was acknowledged that this was not for everyone, but it was a choice that people could make.  From South Kesteven's point of view, the trial was working and had been introduced relatively seamlessly.

It was queried whether there had been any concerns regarding smells from food waste in the kitchen, and members were advised that if the caddies were used properly there should not be any smells.  It was noted that the bags which were provided for use with the caddies were quite thin, and if people were wasting very little and were only adding a little waste each day then the bags were starting to disintegrate.  It was suggested that maybe a message should go out asking people to change the bins every two days.  It was noted that the use of slightly thicker bags could be recommended if the trial was rolled out to a larger area.  However, in preparation for the trial, enough stocks of bags had been ordered for the year-long trial.  It was suggested that some of the residents who had been in contact with the district about the bags could be contacted to see if they would be willing to try out different bags.

North Kesteven District Council – it was noted that the grand opening of the new waste depot at Metheringham would be taking place on Tuesday, 17 July 2018.  The Waste and Street Scene team were now fully operational from this site, and good feedback was being received from staff.

Boston Borough Council - the district had started a campaign of naming and shaming those residents who were fly tipping, dog fouling and dropping cigarettes and then issued with a fixed penalty notice.  So far, 40 people had been taken to court for non-payment of the penalty notices.  It was hoped to send a strong message that the district council would catch, fine and prosecute those people who broke the law.  It was commented that it was encouraging that magistrates were increasing the level of fines for fly tipping and that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

(To be circulated at the meeting)

The Committee received a tabled list of proposed meeting dates for 2019, however, it was noted that some of the dates were unsuitable for a couple of districts.  It was suggested that all districts e-mail the Democratic Services Officer with any dates which were unsuitable so new dates could be found.  Once new dates were identified, these would be e-mailed to the Partnership for agreement.  Electronic appointments would then be sent out once dates were finalised.

RESOLVED

            That dates be circulated and agreed by the Partnership following this meeting.

Consideration was given to a report by Matthew Michell, Lincolnshire County Council, which presented the feedback received during the consultation carried out for the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS).

The Partnership was advised that 150 responses had been received in total, including formal responses from each partner authority.  It was noted that the response from East Lindsey had been circulated separately.

It was noted that every detail from each had not been included, but themes had been summarised.  Members were advised that if there anything that had not been reflected in the revision of the Strategy, it could still be incorporated.  It was noted that the full text of each response could be circulated to members, but members were asked to keep the information contained within the responses internal due to data protection considerations.

It was reported that 89% of the responses either agreed or strongly agreed with the vision set out in the Strategy, and 75% agreed or strongly agreed that the objectives could achieve the vision.  It was noted that whilst there were a lot of supportive comments, there were some comments which indicated a need for the objectives to be more strongly worded.

Some of the main comments referred to the strategy being good as it was but that it did not have enough specific actions.  However, Partners were advised that an action plan would be produced and was being worked on by the Officer Working Group.

Other things which were highlighted for consideration included carbon management, review of Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) services as well as a need for a strong communications message.  It was noted that these would be included as part of the action plan.

It was highlighted that the consultation responses indicated a divided opinion on food waste collection with an almost 50/50 split on whether it was thought a separate food waste collection would be a good idea.  It was suggested whether if residents were aware food waste would be collected on a weekly basis, if this would alleviate some of the issues highlighted such as risk of infection or smells.

Members were advised that the Strategy should be ready to go to the individual partners for approval in the autumn.

The Chairman expressed his thanks to the members of the public who had taken the time to respond, as well as all districts for providing a response as an authority, as well as all comments received from members.  It was commented that the engagement and feedback received had been excellent and would be incorporated into the final version of the Strategy.

It was commented that it was pleasing to see that the Partnership had moved on from working with the 'blank sheet of paper', and it was always useful to have a wide range of views, especially as the input had been that the vision was mainly going in the right direction.  Now there was a need to focus on the issues which had been raised. 

The Chairman commented  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership received a report which provided the opportunity to consider the final report from WRAP (Waste and Resource Action programme) into greater consistency in household waste recycling for Lincolnshire.  It was reported that this report had been produced following agreement by the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership to bid for funding to enable analysis of the current situation in Lincolnshire to be carried out.  The bid was successful and environmental consultants Ricardo were appointed to undertake the work.

Members were reminded that the aim of the work was to explore options for the member authorities of the LWP with the overall aim of increasing household waste recycling and composting percentages; reducing contamination in recycling; reducing residual household waste; and maximising efficiencies.  Data was submitted by all partner authorities and some modelling and benchmarking against other authorities took place.

The Partnership received a presentation from Mike Gardner from WRAP on the outcomes of the analysis set out in the report, which provided members with further information in relation to the following areas:

·         Options modelled in Stage 1

·         Projected recycling rates for each authority, demonstrating the impact of each of the modelled Options

·         Whole system cost for each of the modelled options

·         Stage 2: scenarios assessed in the second stage of the project

·         Details of Scenario D (option 1a with 3 weekly residual)

·         Recycling rate increases

·         Gross collection costs for each Stage 2 scenario

·         Gross WDA costs for each Stage 2 scenario apportioned to each WDA

·         Whole system cost for each scenario

·         Food on pod based vehicles with residual collected on a three weekly cycle (SK only)

·         Results for SK bespoke option – 3 week residual and food on pods

·         Conclusions

·         Conclusions – other considerations

·         Issues for discussion

It was noted that report summarised the key findings and was a reflection of a single point in time, and where the authorities would be in five years' time would be different.

It was noted that at the time of the meeting, SKDC only had five weeks' of data for the food waste trial, and six months' into the trial, the data would be better placed to see whether collection rates were below or above average.

It was suggested that the discussion on this item should be deferred until the end of the meeting, as there was the possibility that commercially sensitive information would be disclosed during the discussion.

RESOLVED

            That discussion of this report be deferred until the end of the meeting where the Partnership would be able to vote to exclude the press and public.

Consideration was given to report which provided the Partnership with the opportunity to discuss the delivery of five projects identified by the Officer Working Group and the prioritisation which had been assigned to each.

It was noted that the five projects were as follows:

1.    Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS) Action Plan (September 2018)

2.    Strategic Review of Kerbside Mixed Dry Recycling Collection and Disposal Arrangements (September 2018)

3.    Food Waste Trial (July 2018)

4.    Strategic Review of Optimum Option for Waste Collection and Disposal Arrangements in Lincolnshire (March 2019)

5.    Assessment of High Energy Business Users in Lincolnshire (September 2018)

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was thought that dropping the priority of the 'blank sheet of paper' exercise would be detrimental, and it was suggested it should be a relatively straight forward paper exercise.  One member commented that they would not be able to support the action plan unless this exercise had been carried out. It was suggested that there could be a danger of discovering a better way to do something after other methods had already been implemented.

·         It was suggested that a compromise may be that the Officer Working Group was resourced better so that the 'blank page' exercise could be carried out.

·         It was commented that North Kesteven District Council had committed an extra officer to this process, and it was suggested that authorities look at what they were able to provide to this process. It had been discussed at Chief Executive and Leaders meetings so they were aware of the issues faced in relation to the future of waste collection.  Councillor Wright (NKDC) offered to e-mail all of the leaders to ask if they were able to commit additional resources for addressing these issues.

·         The Chairman advised that the County Council would commit what it could. 

·         The initial work had suggested that communications support and project support could be needed.  It was not anticipated that this work would need large amounts of funding.

·         It was suggested that if this work was properly resourced, the 'blank paper exercise' could be carried out as part of the action plan work.

RESOLVED

            That Partners agree to try and find resources as necessary to deliver the work streams identified.

Consideration was given to a report which provided the Partnership with information in relation to the year-long trial collection of food waste which was underway in South Kesteven.  It was noted that the trial had commenced on 4^th June 2018 and at the time of the meeting was in its fifth week.

Members were advised, that as of the date of the meeting, just over 30 tonnes of food waste had been collected from those properties taking part.  This was currently above the national average collection rate.  It was expected that the amount collected would drop off after a few weeks after people empty their cupboards of out of date food.  It was noted that the 85% participation rate was very pleasing. 

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         The first principal in relation to waste collection was waste reduction.

·         It was noted that the decision was taken to supply bags for the caddies, but consultation with the facility at Hemswell was undertaken, and their recommendation was followed. 

·         It was commented that there was a need to remove obstacles from people being able to recycle.

·         It was noted that caddies could also be lined with newspaper or kitchen towel.

·         Members were advised that issuing paper sacks was looked at, but they were 5/6 times more expensive than the bags which were selected for use during the trial.  There was a need to be realistic in what the authority was willing to spend.  However, it was acknowledged that the bag was an important aspect of separate food waste collections and so the thickness of the bag would be considered.

·         One member commented that the caddies could also be used without any bag at all, they just needed to be rinsed out with water after emptying.

RESOLVED

            That the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership note the initial positive response to the trial.

RESOLVED

            That in accordance with section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following agenda item on the grounds that if they were present there could be a disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.  

Consideration of the WRAP report into Greater Consistency in Household Waste Recycling for Lincolnshire continued and a detailed discussion ensued regarding some of the modelling options set out in the report.

A number of questions from partner authorities were asked and answered.

RESOLVED

            That WRAP work with the Officer Working Group to develop a scope for further work and then submit to the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for approval.