Meeting documents

 

Members will receive an update on the draft Bulky Waste Strategy and Re-use & Recycling Credits Policy, and will consider the draft policy providing their comments prior to the policy being presented to Cabinet.

 

Lesley Clarke OBE, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning

Gurbaksh Badhan, Waste Service Business Manager

Lesley Clarke OBE, Cabinet Member for Planning & Environment and Gurbaksh Badhan, Waste Business Manager, were welcomed to the meeting.

 

Ms Badhan thanked Committee Members for allowing her to attend the meeting. The purpose of the report being brought to the ETL Select Committee is:

 

·         To present the Committee with information on the Bulky Waste Strategy & Re-use and Recycling Credit Policy project;

·         To provide the Committee with an opportunity to review and comment on the options presented; and

·         To seek approval for the approach being taken

 

The main drivers of the project are;

·         A review of the existing (and subsequently revised) Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Buckinghamshire identified re-use as a priority area. Bulky waste has been identified as a priority waste stream to target re-use.

·         The new Energy from Waste (EfW) facility at Greatmoor will provide the Council with a cost effective and performance efficient route for the treatment of residual waste that is currently landfilled.  It will not however, treat bulky waste in its original form without some form of pre-treatment.  Therefore under the EfW era, bulky waste is to be managed as ad hoc waste under the contract and will incur higher costs for its management compared to standard residual waste (i.e. black bag waste).

 

In terms of HWRC bulky waste re-use items, in 2013/14, approximately 1,250 tonnes of waste items destined for landfill were re-used, of which, about 220 tonnes were from bulky waste. This is a saving of £125,000 per annum to the County Council.

 

The Cabinet Member referred to the shops located at the Household Waste Recycling Centres in Aston Clinton and High Heavens, where funds raised from unwanted items which are suitable for re-use, are being used to support South Bucks Hospice to build and run a new hospice. The disposal of mattresses is a cause for concern.  Talks are taking place with the bed manufacturer, Hypnos, about the possibility of working with them to recycle mattress springs.  There is a bid in the MTP to purchase a shredder for bulky waste.

The officer added that step changes in the management of the material stream going forward have been considered.

 

In 2013/14, approximately 1250 tonnes of waste items destined for landfill were re-used, of which about 220 tonnes were from bulky waste.

 

Bulky waste is also collected by District Councils.  Householders are charged a collection fee.  There is no set window for collection. The drawbacks of this service are items ‘vanish’ before the collection is made and some of the items are weathered and not suitable for re-use. BCC meet the disposal costs so are keen to look at other avenues for disposal.

 

Several third party sector organisations have indicated they would like to be involved in diverting bulky waste for re-use and recycling. There have been various discussions through the re-use forum from which the challenges faced have been highlighted i.e. the lack of storage space and capacity. A money incentive has been looked at i.e. the re-use credit policy.

 

A recent tonnage value review has shown that re-use credit is not viable there is not enough money in the system to pay a re-user credit to a third sector provider.  A possibility being discussed is using District Councils depots, HWRCs or a central point as a buffer which third party sector organisations can go to and help themselves to items which can be re-cycled.  Items that cannot be re-cycled would go to landfill.

 

Appendix 1 of the report gives details of the Waste Resource Action Programme (WRAP) bulky waste options model 2013.  The benefits, challenges and delivery of the options have been discussed with District Councils and third party sector organisations.

 

Appendix 2a indicates the four stages of change needed for the provision of bulky waste collection services; householder requesting collection, collection from households, destinations of collected bulky waste and arrangements for the re-use of bulky waste received at HWRC’s.

 

One of the challenges around the collection of bulky waste is district councils have different contractual obligations and different end dates and therefore might not be in a position to move at the same speed or support the direction we are moving.  Discussions are ongoing.

 

During the update, the following questions were asked.

 

In the Buckingham area, the default position is generally to call a charity shop about the disposal of items for items that can be re-used. There does however, need to be clarity of what is of value, what can be re-used and what is waste.

 

In terms of the charities that are on the Forum, is there involvement from charities from the north of Buckinghamshire as one issue in the north is the lack of re-sale opportunity and items going to a charity that no-one in that part of the county has heard of.  Is there an opportunity to look at how the north of the county might feel more engaged in the service? A countywide approach has been taken on what charities were willing to engage and what they were willing to discuss.  Local charities have also been invited to the forum.  It has been found that third party organisations are happy to participate in discussions but some do not have the resource level to be able to offer a cross county wide solution.  This can be taken back to the Forum.

Action: Gurbash Badhan

 

The Cabinet Member said that as the Local Authority do not provide a collection date and time some items left on the kerbside are found to be damaged when collected. The possibility of collecting items from inside the house is being discussed so the items would be in good condition.

Work is also taking place with Supported Living organisations who help young people coming out of care who are moving into provided accommodation.  The accommodation is very often unfurnished and in its role as Corporate Parent, the County Council is looking at the possibility of supplying unwanted refurbished items such as fridges etc.

 

How is the sale/trade of items at Household Recycling Centres monitored off site i.e. washing machines and cookers? There are two different ways of re-sale; there are traders who are prepared to pay for an item knowing it is not PAT tested. The item is sold as seen and they have to refurbish it via an authorised list. To be includes on the authorised list, traders have to undergo checks and balances via BCC supplier FCC Environment. The second way is the item undergoes a test and is taken off site for repair and is returned for resale.

 

Would it not be feasible to have a storage unit facility at the Household Recycling Centres? Most of the HWRCs are almost a victim of their own success in terms of capacity.  One part of the options considered was using HWRC facilities as a central storage solution but capacity remains an issue.

 

Aylesbury Vale District Council no longer provides a bulky waste collection service; therefore the pressure automatically goes to third party sector organisations or items are being fly tipped in brooks etc and are causing flooding. How do you see the project progressing if the County Council is unable to get partner agencies to be collecting agents? Aylesbury Vale has engaged with the County Council very proactively and is looking toreintroduce the bulky waste service from April 2015.  The depot where the materials are taken has been under refurbishment but AVDC now believe they are in a different position and are able to work more closely with the County Council to try and deliver a system to allow third sector parties to take bulky waste items to the depot.

 

How are unwanted electrical items dealt with?  Does the County Council PAT test electrical items or is this done elsewhere by a third party? PAT testing is carried out elsewhere. The Cabinet Member explained that all items that can be resold are PAT and have a three month guarantee. All items able to resell but test and re-furbished. Some bicycles are refurbished in the prison for which there is a charge of £3 per bicycle. The Police also give the County Council some stolen bicycles if the owner cannot be found.

 

In terms of clarity from a legal point of view, if the Local Authority collects bulky waste, do they have the statutory duty to dispose of it? The County Council has a statutory to dispose of any bulky waste is it presented with.

 

Do the District Councils present bulky waste to the County Council and does the County Council charge for District Councils for this service? Yes District Councils present the County Council with bulky waste which is then sent to landfill. District Councils are able to collect bulky waste and they are legally able to charge for collection but they cannot charge for disposal.  In terms of the County Council’s duty as a statutory body, it cannot charge for disposal as the item is a household waste item under the controlled waste schedule.  It is a legal requirement for the County Council to provide that service.

 

The Cabinet Member said District Councils are encouraged to bring bulky waste in which is in a fit state which can be re-used rather than be sent to landfill.

 

What do the District Councils current dispose of bulky waste items? If an item is fly tipped, the District Council sends a street cleansing vehicle to collect the item to be taken to Wapseys Wood in the north of the county and in the south to Calvert or to Newton Longville. If it is a designated collection by the householder, the item will be collected by a dedicated vehicle which will call at several properties and the items will be taken to landfill.

 

Does the County Council pay the landfill charge?  Yes the County Council pays the landfill charge as it’s a statutory duty.

 

How is the landfill charge calculated? There are only certain items of waste that can be taken to landfill. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment item (WEEE) are stored up at the respective Council’s depots from which collection is organised. Landfill tax is set by the Government. The gate fee is procured through contracts. The Landfill Tax and gate fee are added together to give the cost.

 

Is there a facility to breakdown and recycle the component parts of items which cannot be re-furbished or resold? There is not currently this facility or capacity in the system. In the legal framework, if an item has been discarded it is technically waste; if an item has been donated, it is a reuse item.

 

What is the total cost of bulky landfill tax to the County Council per annum and is this broken down into an amount per District Council? If a customer is diverted and directed to household waste sites, we will re-use what we can.  Items can come to site which are no always of value and could still end up in the residual bins at the household waste and be sent to landfill. It can be difficult to ascertain the true amount of tonnage as this depends on the method of collection i.e. street cleansing vehicle or designated collection vehicle. The tax element is paid by County Council via the household waste sites. The figures for landfill tax costs for the County Council and District Councils is to be circulated to Committee members.

Action Gurbaksh Badhan/DSO

 

There is a step change in service coming through nationally for bulky waste with the move away from landfill to EfW. Some items at the end of their life need to be pre-treated before they can be sent to landfill.

 

Before the decision is made of the process which is going to be undertaken in Buckinghamshire, it is important to look at how other rural counties dispose of bulky waste items as this is not unique to Buckinghamshire. Benchmarking is being undertaken. It is emerging that a lot of Councils are at different stages. In areas which are moving in EFW, a change is being seen in how bulky waste is being managed.

 

The Chairman said this is a policy in progress which the Committee can’t approve or comment on in detail.

 

The Committee agrees that the principle of trying to find better use of bulky waste seems to be going in the right direction to which there are no objections. It would be good to see more work on the opportunities to breaking waste down rather into recycling schemes rather than landfill.

 

The Chairman thanked Ms Badhan and the Cabinet Member for the update.