Agenda item

(To receive a report by the LCC Waste Strategy Manager which provides the Partnership with an opportunity to consider the emerging national policy in relation to The Environment Act and how this might impact on Lincolnshire)

The Waste Strategy Manager presented a report which provided partners with an opportunity to consider the emerging national policy in relation to The Environment Act and how this might impact on Lincolnshire.  Consultations had been carried out by the government in 2020 and 2021, and formal responses were still awaited from two of the three consultations that were held.  In responding to the consultations, the LWP was generally supportive of the proposals but did express concern on a number of the details.

Partners were guided through the report, and some of the points highlighted included:

·       Working together, Lincolnshire was already collecting the majority of the dry recyclables that would be required, however there may be a need for the Partnership to consider the collection of plastic films in the future.

·       There was a specification in the Act that each material must be collected separately, however there could be some exceptions.  With the introduction of twin stream collections for paper and card, it was currently believed that it would be acceptable to collect metal, plastic and glass together.

·       There was a proposal that garden waste collections would become free for householders, and this was likely to create a funding gap for collection authorities.

·       There was also a proposal that food waste collection would become mandatory from all households and businesses, and it was likely that these collections would be weekly and be separate from other recyclables.  This waste must then be either recycled or composted.  Confirmation on a number of details, including the start date for these collections, was still awaited from government.

·       Funding to support consistent recycling collections from households may come through a producer responsibility scheme instead of new burdens funding.

·       The Environment Act had specified that there would be secondary legislation which required the payment of sums in respect of the costs of disposing of products and materials, which would be good news for local authorities.  However, there would be conditions attached to that which could include targets or benchmarking.

·       Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) currently had a start date of 2024, but this would be introduced on a phased basis.  Sampling of packaging would also be required to establish what funding would be due, and LCC was currently in the process of putting this in place with sampling available at all the waste transfer stations.  It was noted that business waste was currently being excluded from this system until 2028.

·       Further guidance was awaited in relation to the deposit return scheme.  The Environment Act did allow for secondary legislation to establish deposit return schemes.  The impact on the LWP would be the diversion of materials from the dry recycling scheme. The scheme for England would be All-in and would include plastic bottles and metals cans, but not glass bottles.  There would be some differences across the UK, for example the Scotland and Wales scheme had been specified as including glass bottles.

It was noted that, in light, of these changes, it was important that the LWP’s strategic thinking going forward took account of the impacts of these emerging policies, and therefore there may be a need to consider undertaking a deep review of the existing waste strategy for Lincolnshire and possibly the need to start work on the development of a new Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS).

During discussion of the report, the following points were noted:

·       Concerns were raised regarding the secondary legislation and where funding would initially come from in relation to the extended producer responsibility, as the incentive payments may not be in place immediately.

·       There were concerns about the impact the deposit return schemes could have on Lincolnshire’s carbon footprint if vehicles were driving around the county to collect from deposit points. 

·       It was hopeful that TEEP requirements would continue, where there was an environmental advantage.

·       Confirmation was sought that as a Partnership potential means of disposal of garden waste and food waste were being explored, possibly through anaerobic digestion.

·       In terms of the requirements relating to plastic films, a lot of these would be attached to food containers and so could be heavily contaminated, and assurance was sought that disposal of these items were being explored. It was noted that plastic films could not currently be collected as they could be recycled by the current provider.

·       There would be a need to work together as a partnership in order to minimise costs resulting from the Environment Act, as it was suggested that it should explore how the Partnership could work together as one authority.

·       In terms of garden waste and anaerobic digestion (AD) it was noted that market engagement had identified that food and garden waste should be treated differently.  Officers were not aware of any facilities which handled both materials a co-mingled waste due to issues with efficiency.

·       Officers would be taking the requirements for plastic film and food waste to market to see what options were available.  Caution was expressed that a new Strategy would need to be built around what options were actually available.  Officers would be engaging closely with existing partners and commercial operators about what was possible.

·       It was suggested that development of a new JMWMS was something which could be discussed further by the Officer Working Group.

·       It was queried when it was likely that there would be a move to separate collections, including the weekly ‘free’ collections of green waste, as this was likely to have cost implications for collection authorities.  It was highlighted that whilst households would not be required to pay separately for a green waste collection, these costs would need to be factored into taxation.

·       It was queried how it was envisaged that the deposit return scheme would work, and also why glass had not been included in this scheme. 

·       It was clarified that the Scottish deposit return scheme would go live in August 2023.  The decision to not include glass within the English scheme, was a decision which had been taken by government, and it was possible that this was at the request of the glass industry.

·       Concerns were raised regarding the cost impacts on collection authorities, in particular the loss of income from charging for green waste collections.  It was positive that some funding would be available from the producers, but it was not believed that this would fully cover the additional costs.  It was queried what could be done as a Partnership to raise the issue of funding and costs of this.

·       In relation to the green waste collection, it was highlighted that the charge was not an additional tax but a recovery of costs for a service.

RESOLVED

That the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership authorises:

1.    The inclusion, in the 2021/22 Annual Report and initial review of the impacts of emerging national policies on the LWP’s current strategic objectives.

2.    Officers to begin, through the LWP’s Strategic Officer Working Group (SOWG), a more detailed review of these policy impacts with a view to proposing to the next LWP meeting the extent on the work required – i.e. whether it was necessary to start work on developing a new JMWMS.