Agenda item

(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:

North Kesteven District Council – green waste take up had been high, with 28,000 households signed up.  This was better than expected.

The district had also been nominated for a national marketing award for their 'dead pheasant' campaign, it was noted that they were the only local authority to be nominated in this category.

City of Lincoln Council – charging for green waste collected had now commenced, and officers had been pleasantly surprised with the 46% take up.  Most people had been understanding about the need to introduce this charge.

South Holland District Council – no complaints had been received from the operational staff at the new Waste Transfer Station.  There was still some waste going to landfill.

Several changes were being implemented which would result in savings.

Two new officers had been employed who would be looking at recycling quality and waste reduction.  It was suggested that officers could bring a report back to the next meeting in relation to this work.

The possibility of offering a green waste collection was being examined and visits to other authorities were scheduled in order to research this.  It was requested whether the results of this research could be brought back to a later meeting?

The authority was still struggling with early presentation of both types of communal bin, and it was requested that if any of the other had experienced similar problems officers would be grateful for any assistance that could be provided.

West Lindsey District Council – the WTS was now operational, and the faster turnaround time had been noted.

East Lindsey District Council – charging for green waste would be introduced from March 2014, and it was planned to return to an all year round collection.  It seemed that the intention to commence charging was unpopular with residents at the moment. 

The district would be working closely with colleagues in Boston and the County Council with the intention of integrating collections.

Contamination of dry recyclables was a key issue, particularly as the market was starting to see the value in recyclables.

Operational changes, such as a longer operating day were also being considered.

Boston Borough Council – were looking at joint working with ELDC in terms of collections.  Now the WTS was operational, there had been a drastic improvement in turnaround times, and there had also been a reduction in the amount of damage to fleet vehicles as they did not have to go onto the landfill sites.

Since the kerbside recycling had been implemented in the last year, recycling rates had gone up from 28% to over 50%.

Lincolnshire County Council – there would soon be two operational asbestos collection points within the County, one at Whisby and the other at Boston.  This would be for residents to dispose of small amounts of asbestos, anything large would still need to be collected commercially. 

It was suggested that a report could be brought back to the next meeting which provided an update on 'how to work better together' which was due to be discussed at the ADEPT board.

It was suggested that the Partnership record their thanks to the previous Chairman and Vice-Chairman.