Agenda item

(To receive an update from South Holland District Council and Boston Borough Council, in relation to a proposed paper and card trial)

Consideration was given to report which set out the details of the proposed paper and card collection trial, where one of the objectives was to improve the quality of the recycling stream.  It was proposed that the trial would take place in three districts – South Holland, Boston Borough and North Kesteven.  During the trial, bags would be issued for South Holland and wheelie bins for Boston Borough and North Kesteven.  It was expected that this would have a positive impact on quality.  A communication and education strategy would be running prior to and during the trial.

Partners were provided with the opportunity to ask questions in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised included the following:

·         The new contract for mixed dry recycling was due to be negotiated March 2020 and if there was substantial contamination then the contract would be more expensive.  There was a need for change as soon as possible.

·         It was commented by one member that it was positive that things were starting to move forward in terms of meeting the objectives of the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS). 

·         Paper and card had a commercial value as a waste stream, and it was queried what that looked like in terms of a business case, and what level of income was possible.  It was highlighted that any income would be dependent on the values of the material based on the quality of the material collected.  There was a need to determine what the averages would look like, as current values were based on what was currently being collected.  However, clean card was worth about £100 per tonne.

·         It was queried whether paper and card was put into the mixed dry recyclables during the trial, if this would be classed as contamination.

·         In terms of the food waste trial, one of the key aspects had been the reduction in the amount of food waste created, and it was queried whether there was something that could encourage people to reduce the amount of paper used to begin with. 

·         It was confirmed that people on the proposed routes had been invited to volunteer to participate in the trial rather than it being compulsory.

·         It was important to make clear the type of paper and cardboard that would be accepted, e.g. pizza boxes.  However, it was likely that pizza boxes would not be accepted due to the contamination risk.  The emphasis would need to be on clean paper and card.

·         If the waste streams were to be separated out and some cardboard was contaminated by food, there could be a combined benefit if people could be encouraged to scrape out the pizza boxes, the food waste would go in one container for collection and there would be better quality card.

·         A visit was undertaken by some officers to the paper processing plant, who were very specific about what they would and would not want to receive or collect.  It was noted that old books could not be accepted as the ink did not come out in the process to extract the fibres.

·         It was suggested it would be useful to get some schools involved as they must produce a lot of paper and card waste.  It was also highlighted that schools should be targeted as if the children were educated about what was being done, they would take those messages back home to their parents.  It was suggested that this was something that could be discussed further by the strategic officer group.

·         It was queried whether residents would need to remove staples from publications such as magazines, and it was reported that staples or spiral bound notebooks were not a problem and could be processed as long as any plastic covers had been removed.

·         It was commented that it was very interesting to see how the market was very specific about what it wanted.

·         It was highlighted that the reason the material needed to be dry was that it became flammable when wet.

RESOLVED

            That the proposed trial be supported by the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership.