Agenda item

(To provide an opportunity for members to update Partners of anything that may be of interest)

Each Partner authority was provided with the opportunity to update the rest of the Partnership on any developments or updates which may be of interest to the Partnership.  The following was noted:

 

South Kesteven District Council

 

It was reported that staffing levels were now starting to return to normal.  The green waste collection service had continued, with high demand for this service and a further 1000 new customers had signed up.  Additional funding had been allocated to ensure the demand can be met. 

 

The district was also working closely with the County Council on One Public Estate.

 

The Chairman congratulated the district for continuing the service as normally as possible, and thanked all involved for their work.

 

Boston Borough District Council

 

Officers thanked David Steels from North Kesteven District Council who was stepping down as Chairman of the Strategic Officer Working Group after 18 months, and had done a fantastic job as Chairman during this time.

 

It was reported that the district had managed to maintain waste collection services throughout the pandemic, and there had been a commitment from the Partnership to ensure that services could continue through a rapidly evolving situation.

 

It was also reported that the district had also seen a significant change in the amount of fly-tipping, which had also been highlighted in the press.  The amounts of fly tipping being reported in the last three months had doubled when compared with the same time the previous year.  It was noted that this pattern was being replicated across the Partnership.  It was suggested that this needed to be a priority going into 2021.

 

It was highlighted that the plans for the Boston Alternative Energy Facility or gasification facility had been paused and there was now a new energy from waste facility proposal.  This would have the same amount of residual waste throughput, of 1.3m tonnes per annum.  The consultation was due to start in the coming weeks.  A report would be presented to the scrutiny committee in August 2020 and officers were happy to share any further information with the Partnership.

 

It was queried whether there was any indication of the costs of clearing up the fly tipped waste, and whether there was any hazardous waste amongst it.  The Partnership was advised that the costs were being investigated and the type of waste being seen in volume of van loads and car loads, consisting of building waste, white goods, mattresses etc.

 

In terms of the additional residual waste being collected, it was queried whether there were any questions being asked of commercial operators regarding their volumes of waste and if there was any correlation.  It was queried whether more waste was being generated or whether there had just been a shift in the direction of the collection as more people worked from home.  It was acknowledged that this was something which was being investigated.

 

The following suggestions were made in relation to an approach to tackling fly tipping:

·         All districts should consider increasing their communications around warning residents of the dangers of not checking the credentials of people offering to take waste away for a charge.

·         Could the Partnership petition the government on increasing the levels of penalties for fly-tipping.

·         Could the partnership liaise with the highways department and district councils on a piece of work to identify the entry and egress of the sites used by fly-tippers.

 

There was support for of these suggestions, and the Chairman highlighted that since the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) had reopened, they had never been fully booked and there were plenty of appointments for residents who needed to dispose of waste.  Most of the fly tipping being reported was being dumped by rogue traders.  It was emphasised that the public needed to be reminded that if their waste ends up being left in an inappropriate place, they were still responsible for it, and that fly tipping was a criminal behaviour.

 

It was highlighted that there was a national algorithm that would work out the costs of clearing up fly-tipping.  West Lindsey District Council reported that so far this year it had spent £76,000 on clearing fly-tipped waste, compared to £55,000 for the whole of 2019.

 

It was reported that the amount of trade waste being collected had significantly reduced, but it was starting to recover.

 

East Lindsey District Council

 

It was reported that a new fleet of vehicles had been purchased.  However, the new rounds and a change of working practices had inadvertently been scheduled to be implemented in the same week as the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.  However, due to the skill of the staff these changes were brought in and also the service was completely changed to deal with Covid-19.  It was commented that this also demonstrated how well the officers of the Partnership had worked together during this time.  When the new rounds were rolled out, leaflets were distributed to households setting out the new materials that would be collected.

 

East Lindsey had not seen a particularly large rise in fly tipping, and officers were examining data to understand why the district had not seen the same increase.

The fleet maintenance contract would be going out to tender shortly.

 

City of Lincoln Council

 

Collections had continued throughout the pandemic. 

 

An impact on waste streams had been seen since the start of the pandemic, with increased numbers of people working from home.  It was also noted that there had been an additional 1000 customers signing up for the green waste collection.

 

It was also noted that the increased numbers of people working from home had caused some access issues for the collection vehicles, the response from the highways department regarding enforcement of parking restrictions had been patchy.

 

Concerns were raised regarding whether the booking system for HWRC's was creating a barrier for people who needed to dispose of waste.  However, in terms of disposal of green waste, the household waste recycling centres should be the last resort, and more people should use the green waste collection service as they were good value for money as well as being more environmentally friendly.

 

West Lindsey District Council

 

It was reported that the fleet maintenance contract had come to an end, and a new contract had been agreed on a 1 + 1 basis for the existing contract.

 

The amount of green waste collected had increased from the previous year, this was likely due to the fact that there were more people working from home and they had more time to care of their environment/

 

All of the planning conditions for the new depot had been fulfilled and work was expected to start on site in September 2020.  The build time was anticipated to be one year.

 

In terms of fly tipping in the district, it was noted that there had been an increase of 300 – 500% on the previous year.  Tackling climate change remained a priority for the district and a consultation document had been published which closed in mid-august 2020 and would inform the Climate Change Strategy.

 

South Holland District Council

 

The fleet had been brought in house from 1 April 2020.  The district had also been part of the paper and card trial which had been taking place in the county, and had been successful.

 

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, changes had had to be made to crews, and hundreds of tonnes of extra waste had been collected.  However, all services had continued without interruption.  Bulky waste and fly tipping had increased by 72% during the lockdown period.

 

The district was part of the district council network and was working with Defra.

 

North Kesteven District Council

 

It was reported that there was a similar picture in North Kesteven, and the maintenance crews had been brought in house at the beginning of April 2020, and were happy to be part of the NK team.

 

In terms of fly tipping, between April and June 2019 the district had 173 fly tips reported, in the same period for 2020 there were 308 reported cases.  It was noted that this did include some large fly-tips.

 

Lincolnshire County Council

 

It was reported that all waste transfers stations had remained open.  The HWRC's had closed until government guidance changed to allow them to reopen.

 

An analysis of the waste and tonnages collected during the lockdown period was being collected.

 

It was commented that the need to use the booking system for HWRC's had been found to be an improved experience and it was hoped that this system would remain in place permanently.  It was noted that positive feedback had been received from customers who had visited the sites, as they had been able to dispose of their waste without feeling rushed.  The only problem was that the staff wanted to help people unload but they were not able to due to the restrictions in place.

 

One councillor commented that parts of their area were a long way from a Lincolnshire HWRC, but there were three which were nearer but were over the Lincolnshire border.  Under normal circumstances residents were able to access these sites.  It was highlighted that residents in the north of the county were still able to access HWRC's in North and North East Lincolnshire but they required a permit, for which there was a charge.

 

A discussion took place regarding the increase in fly tipping in most parts of the county since the start of the lockdown, and it was commented that fly-tipping was a behavioural issue.  The booking system was enabling trends in behaviour to be identified, and the aim was to further develop this process in order to better restrict commercial activity.

 

It was commented that fly tipping but never be completely stopped, but it seemed that a lot of the waste was coming from small building projects, and it was queried whether there was a way of introducing a registration system for small building projects, for example for householders to have to state how they would dispose of the waste.

 

Officers assured members of the Partnership that the comments and suggestions put forward would feed into developing an action plan and interventions for tackling fly tipping.  It would be a partnership approach and it would remain on the agenda for the Strategic Officer Working Group (SOWG).  It was requested whether the SOWG could collect information in relation to costs of clearing the fly-tipped waste, what it consisted of as well as tonnages.