hertsmere borough council · each module will be reported separately and approval sought at the...

Hertsmere Borough Council

Waste Management Framework

2010-2013

Waste Management Framework 1

1. Contents

1. Contents ......................................................................................................... 1 2. Foreword ........................................................................................................ 2 3. Vision.............................................................................................................. 3

4. Background .................................................................................................... 3

4.1 Purpose and context ...................................................................................... 3 4.2 Current Services ............................................................................................. 3

4.3 What are we aiming for? ................................................................................. 4

5. Strategic framework – SEEC .......................................................................... 6 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 10 7. Appendices ................................................................................................... 11

Appendix A. Comparative performance for National Indicators........................ 11 Appendix B. Top ten collection authorities for NI192 ....................................... 12

Appendix C. Comparison of a number of WCA‟s within the M25. .................... 13

Appendix D. Glass bring banks capture rate .................................................... 14 Appendix E. Case studies supporting SEEC.................................................... 15 8. Version Control and Change History ............................................................ 21


2. Foreword The basis of this strategy is to enable Hertsmere Borough Council to achieve top quartile performance in the environmental management of waste. The strategy achieves this by taking a four pronged approach:

Service improvements: offering more recycling options,

Enforcement: actions to reduce residual waste.

Education: School visits, Parish Council meetings, interest groups and

Communication: programme designed to educate and inform.

Our current system works well and gives excellent recycling percentage rates for the costs. This strategic framework, will take us beyond excellence to being one of the leaders in this field. The framework has been designed to be constructed modularly, most modules will be stand alone and are listed separately within the document. Each module will be reported separately and approval sought at the appropriate time by the relevant Officers and Members. It may be that some of the smaller innovations will need to be considered as a batch, where this is the case, they will be identified. The modular construction allows this authority to be flexible to any changes in legislation and can be seen as a “mix and match” to suit our needs. This is an exciting time for Hertsmere with our phenomenal achievements over the last three years - raising the recycling percentage rates in 2005 of 13% to the current recycling percentage rate 40%, a threefold increase in the percentage recycling rate with a 6% decrease in the cost per household. This strategy lays out the pathway for the journey ahead to beyond excellence and I hope members will find this a strategic framework that they will want to embrace and direct Officers to implement.

Cllr J Heywood Environment Portfolio Holder


3. Vision The aim of Street Scene Services is to contribute to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for Hertsmere by providing efficient and effective refuse collection, recycling and street cleansing services.

4. Background

4.1 Purpose and context

In 2008, this authority signed up to the Hertfordshire Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy. This document sets out Hertfordshire‟s position within the context of national policies, and develops a range of local objectives and policies. A key target of the Hertfordshire Waste Strategy is to achieve a recycling rate of 50% across Hertfordshire, by 2012. The Hertsmere Waste Strategy (the strategy) will document district level policy that will enable Hertsmere Borough Council to achieve top quartile performance in the environmental management of waste and support the implementation of the Hertfordshire Waste Strategy. To inform the strategy and establish its strategic priorities, current service provision, member steer, community and stakeholder opinions and the recommendations of the Hertfordshire Waste Strategy will be considered.

4.2 Current Services

The Alternate Bin Collection (ABC) system operates as follows:

Week Type of Waste Receptacle

1 Garden waste, food, cardboard 240L bin

1 Paper 40L box

2 Residual waste 240L bin

2 Plastic & cans 55L box

ABC has been supported by a comprehensive programme of public road shows and educational visits. The system gives us a 40% recycling rate (2008/09 figures) and on its own has probably achieved a near maximum for this type of standalone system. The system was previously used by a number of authorities, including, Daventry District Council and Northampton Borough Council. These authorities have now moved on to collect more materials. Daventry DC has added glass to the plastic and can box and a bi-monthly textile bag collection. Alternatively, Northampton BC replaced one of the garden waste collections


(food not included) with a glass collection (with additional black box), so that glass is collected one fortnight and garden waste the following fortnight.

In Hertsmere, the ABC system is supported by a network of 15 bring sites collecting glass, paper, cans and foil, textiles, paper cartons, books and shoes, and bra‟s in various combinations. Furthermore, fridges and monitors collected as part of the bulky waste service as recycled as far as possible. In partnership with other Hertfordshire districts, Hertsmere Borough Council encourages waste minimisation through the real nappy cashback scheme and supply of subsidised home composters.

4.3 What are we aiming for?

As shown in Appendix A, Hertsmere‟s current recycling rate currently lies within the second quartile, with waste production in the third quartile. The quartile boundaries represent a moving target that is hard to define, since other authorities are also continuously improving. The top ten performing LA‟s for 2007-08 and 2008-09 (provisional results, costs not yet available) are shown in Appendix B. The ratio of the percentage recycled to the cost of waste collection per head has been used as a tool to assess value for money. Numbers in brackets indicate the rank of data the respective column. It can be seen that the majority of current high performing LA‟s, use a form of co-mingled recyclables collection, usually utilising 3 wheeled bins. This system can represent exceptional value for money, for example, in the case of Waveney District Council. However, good value for money and performance is not exclusive to the 3 bin system as demonstrated by Teignbridge District Council, who achieved 55.6% for £48.97 per head in 2007-08 using boxes and kerbside sorting. A desktop investigation has also been undertaken of a number of authorities within the M25 (Appendix C). It is assumed that these authorities are more comparable to Hertsmere in environmental terms. In this analysis costs have also been considered and the authorities are ranked according to value for money with the best performer at the top. For this group, with the exception of Epson and Ewell, authorities, making some charge for green waste collections, represent worse value for money. Better value for money tends to be achieved by those using a mixture of bins and boxes rather than all bins. The current collection infrastructure at Hertsmere could evolve more easily into a 3 bin co-mingled system than a Kerbside sorting system. To employ Kerbside sorting 5 Refuse Collection Vehicles would have to be replaced by Kerbsiders requiring a large capital input. However, to undertake a comingled collection an automated Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), or transfer to such a facility would


be required. It is unlikely that HBC could meet the costs of an MRF and HCC as the waste disposal authority has no current plans to provide one. Therefore a form of co-mingled system with transfer to an existing MRF appears to be the most sensible option to increase Hertsmere‟s performance. The following high performers have been looked at in more depth and case studies are attached (Appendix E): Council NI192 Satisfaction System

Staffordshire Morlands DC

62% 52% good 35% excellent

Alternate Waste Collection 3 bin system Bags for paper and textiles

Huntingdonshire DC 57% Alternate Waste Collection 3 bin system, glass not included.

Fenland DC 51% Alternate Waste Collection 3 bin system, includes cartons, but not glass.

These case studies are obviously applicable to the authority that they were produced for and time limitations make it difficult to carry out an evaluation in terms of accuracy or to consider the specific environment that the other authorities operate within. However they provide an indication of the potential performance these collection systems could achieve in Hertsmere. A number of key points from the case studies are worth considering and may have implications for Hertsmere BC. Staffordshire Moorlands DC collect co-mingled green waste, cardboard and food waste in the same way as this authority, and have found that food waste constitutes about 50% of this stream. They claimed this was key to their high recycling rate. On the surface there is little difference between the systems, both with a form of compostable bag available to purchase. Although Staffordshire Moorlands DC also have a large liner for the wheeled bin available and issued a Kitchen caddy to all households, whereas Hertsmere BC has made caddies free for residents to collect. Staffordshire Moorlands DC collects textiles, but has had little take up perhaps due to charities dominating the textile collection market. Huntingdonshire collected textiles in the dry recycling stream, but has withdrawn the service due to problems separating the material. Unlike Staffordshire Moorlands DC, Huntingdonshire DC and Fenland DC do not collect glass at kerbside. However they do have 110 glass banks, and over 60 sites respectively, whereas Hertsmere BC currently has 15 sites. Increasing the number of bottle banks is an alternative to providing kerbside glass collections. Both operate these bank sites in partnership with local community groups – perhaps increasing their popularity. However, following the experience of Peterborough, Huntingdonshire DC are soon to introduce kerbside glass collections, using RCV‟s. They expect increased tonnages but similar volumes of waste.


Each authority studied does a regular newsletter / mailshot, either annually, 6 monthly or bi-monthly. With large volumes of waste diverted Staffordshire Moorlands DC has further limited waste, using a 180 litre bin for its alternate residual waste collections. This was supported in principle by Huntingdonshire DC, who felt in hindsight that 240 litre bins were not needed for residual waste, based on many requests for smaller bins (not provided due to the cost).

5. Strategic framework – SEEC Overarching objectives and policies are defined in the Hertfordshire Waste Strategy so will not be repeated here. To drive forward improvement in waste management, at a collection authority level, four key types of actions are available:

Service improvements: offering more recycling options,

Enforcement: actions to reduce residual waste.

Education: School visits, Parish Council meetings, interest groups and

Communication: programme designed to educate and inform.

This framework has been used as a basis to develop a range of proposals,

shown in Figure 1. Some of the proposals shown are alternative options, with

each project being assessed in terms of value for money it may be expected to

achieve. Proposed projects will be reported separately and approval sought at

the appropriate time by the relevant Officers and Members. Whilst this strategy is

modular, a clear strategic lead is required from Members as there are

interrelationships between most of the modules.

The SEEC Program (description only) was presented to the Street Scene Forum

for consultation. The preferred ideas are ranked first in each category of the

table, and marked green. Proposal S1, to extend the current kerbside collections

to include glass and further categories of plastic, was particularly welcomed as a

means to recycle glass with minimum disruption to residents in terms of

inconvenience and noise. Glass is likely to give us the greatest improvement in

recycling percentages. While collecting more plastics is expected to be popular

with residents and reduce the volume of residual waste.


Figure 1; SEEC Program: S - Service Improvements, E - Enforcement, Ed - Education, C - Communication.

No Description Comments

S SERVICE

IMPROVEMENTS

S1. Introduction of dual stream

kerbside recycling collections,

using existing system for news/

pams, green/kitchen waste &

residual, replacing the black box

with a 140 litre wheeled bin for

an extended variety of plastic

and commingled glass

collections.

Proven system enhancement used by the number

one local authority for recycling – Staffordshire

Moorlands, Outlet now procured for dual stream

materials in Hertfordshire, collection point required,

(see Waste Transfer Station proposals) Switch to

wheeled bins possible part funded by HWP see

separate proposal- Increase tonnages

S2 Expansion of flats recycling, on-

going process, liaison with all

RSL’s

Variety of bespoke schemes being introduced across

the borough (local bring sites and backdoor

collections)

S3 Introduction of extended variety

of plastics to existing system

Enhancement possible with existing resources,

outlet now procured, limited impact to recycling rate

– main value in awareness raising

S4 Collect glass and new types of

plastic in black bin and introduce

new smaller bin for waste.

Increased tonnages for recycling, reduced capacity

for residual –possible enhancement – expected

customer

S5 Introduction of batteries, toner,

mobiles, eye glasses @ bring

sites.

Further provision of routes for materials to be

recycled will encourage, resources requirement

minimal, however outlets will have to be identified

S6 Introduction of separate glass

collections from kerbside

Increased tonnages, used widely, increased rounds,

increased costs – see expansion of kerbside report

S7 Introduction of textile collections

from kerbside

Additional collection, could be added in survival bag

with existing material or collected separately,

introduced in Staffordshire Moorlands, limited


success see report – not expected to increase

recycling performance

S8 Introduction of batteries, toner,

mobiles, eye glasses, collections

@ kerbside.

Basket insert in top of wheelie bin / bag / additional

box required, @ kerbside would require additional

resources

S9 Introduction of separated green

/ kitchen waste collections

Week 1: Green bin (garden and

card, one side), Food caddie

(other side)

Week 2: Refuse (one side) and

Food caddie (other side)

Replacement vehicles with split bodies required,

major capital costs involved, increased maintenance

costs, complete fleet change required, would need

to be introduced over a number of years, which

would lead to different systems operating over

significant period. Issues relating to food waste

collected fortnightly and customer expectations,

S10 Expansion of bring bank system,

currently 13 sites. Plans in place

to add an extra 2 sites and

introduce bring bank system to

flats ( Canterbury House )

Authorities that have high recycling rates, and do

not collect glass @ kerbside have invested in a

substantial number of sites, (Huntingdonshire 140

sites, Fenland 60 sites) – significant capital cost,

planning issues,

S11 Introduction of 3 bin system

(residual, green & food,

cans/plastics/paper/glass)

Probably the most popular current system,

Authorities employing this system have high

recycling rates and generally high costs, due to

contamination issues –

E ENFORCEMENT

E 1 Introduce street scene

enforcement, evolving program

of activity.

Multi agency provision – report to executive

10.11.09 – expected start date – April 2010

E2 Incentive scheme using barcode

stickers, each time household

recycles (+not contaminated)

entered in prize draw.

Post stickers to residents. Either

A reader for each vehicle, or

Monitoring Officer with reader (1 round at a time).


E3 Prize draw scheme using

electronic chips.

Also use data to target those not

recycling / side waste for a visit,

enforcement.

Replace existing bins with ones that include

electronic chips, retrofit bins with electronic chips, -

significant capital cost

EC EDUCATION /

COMMUNICATION

EC1 Extend recycling on the go to

Radlett, Potters Bar and Bushey

On-going process funding secured from HWP to

provide bins in Radlett in 09.10

EC2 Continue with engagement program including:

Street Scene focus group (quarterly)

Street Scene newsletter (quarterly)

Road shows and events

Regular items in local media.

On-going

Based on the results of the last waste analysis, our bring bank scheme collected only 28% of the glass thrown away in Hertsmere that year (see Appendix D for details). Since then the glass collected has increased perhaps due to increased awareness and bring bank improvements, but undoubtedly a large percentage of glass will still be present in the residual waste stream. The introduction of kerbside glass collections will make it easier for residents to recycle their glass, and increase diversion from the residual waste stream. Presented at the same time as this strategy is a paper giving details of the proposed kerbside collection scheme expansion and the operational costs involved. However, it does not consider the increase in customer satisfaction that this scheme would be likely to achieve. Current resources are fully utilised and therefore there is no spare capacity to

deliver the majority of the modules, even with additional resources it would not be


possible to undertake the whole programme in one go. The implementation of

this strategy will require additional resource and these will be identified within the

appropriate delivery reports.

6. Conclusion This strategy considers Hertsmere‟s current performance in relation to other councils, provides a desktop assessment of top performers and studies three of these in depth. A framework of ideas was devised, then assessed in terms of value for money and considered by a resident‟s panel. Modules of this framework will be assessed in detail at the appropriate time, beginning with S1. The flexible SEEC program should allow Hertsmere Borough Council to increase its recycling, move towards top quartile performance and exceed its obligations within the Hertfordshire waste strategy.


7. Appendices

Appendix A. Comparative performance for National Indicators

N191: Total Residual Household Waste per Household for all England collection authorities, 2008-09

(provisional data)

597.82HBC: 575.11

534.64

492.29

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

700.00

800.00

900.00

1,000.00

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Local Authority Number

N1

91

/ k

g/h

ou

se

ho

ld

Bottom Quartile

Third Quartile

Second Quartile

Top Quartile

N192: Percentage Household waste sent for Reuse, Recycling or Composting for all England collection

authorities, 2008-09 (provisional data)

HBC: 39.74%44.04%

37.32%

29.56%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

Local Authority Number

N1

92

Bottom Quartile

Third Quartile

Second Quartile

Top Quartile


Appendix B. Top ten collection authorities for NI192

Numbers in brackets indicate the rank of data the respective column.

Note residual green food

card-

board paper plastic cans glass

co-

mingled

%recycled

2008-9

%recycled

2007-8

Cost

2007-8

% : Cost

ratio 07-8

Staffordshire Moorlands

AWC 3 bin system,

textiles and paper

sacks

Bin Bin Bin Bin Sack Bin Bin Bin 61.6 (1) 52.9 (8) 62.87 0.84 (10)

Cotswold

AWC with Garden

(£30 /year) and food

weekly. Kerbside sort

Bin Bin £ Box Sack Box Box Box 60.8 (2) 43.3 (73 ) 66.11 0.65 (11)

East Lindsey AWC 3 bin system Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 59.4 (3) 58.4 (1) 61.84 0.94 (6)

South Hams 2 sacks - co-mingle Bin Bin Bin Sack Sack Sack Sack 57.9 (4) 57.1 (2) 65.83 0.87 (9)

South Shropshire AWC, 2 bin, 2 box Bin Bin Bin Bin Box Box Box 57.5 (5) 52.1 (10) 91.52 0.57 (12)

Teignbridge

Kerbside sort,

fortnightly nappy

collection

Bin Bin Bin Box Box Box Box Box 57.4 (6) 55.6 (4) 48.97 1.14 (2)

Huntingdonshire AWC 3 bin system Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 57.2 (7) 55.1 (5) 52.95 1.04 (5)

Waveney AWC 3 bin system Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 55.9 (8) 51.6 (11) 37.04 1.39 (1)

North Kesteven AWC 3 bin system Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 55.7 (9) 55.9 (3) 52.29 1.07 (4)

Uttlesford AWC 3 bin system Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 53.7 (10) 54.5 (6) 62.37 0.87 (8)

South Cambridgeshire AWC, co-mingle in

boxBin Bin Bin Box Box Box Box 53.6 (12) 53.2 (7) 47.31 1.12 (3)

Rushcliffe AWC 3 bin system Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 52.9 (15) 52.4 (9) 58.52 0.90 (7)

Hertsmere AWC, 2 bin, 2 box Bin Bin Bin Bin Box Box Box 39.7 (157) 29.6 (260) 55.42 0.53 (13)

Borough/District

Kerbside Collection System Performance


Appendix C. Comparison of a number of WCA’s within the M25.

The authorities are ranked by descending Percentage to Cost / head ratio. „Bin £‟ indicates that the service is charged.

Note residual green food cardboard paper plastic cans glass co-mingled% recycled

2007-8

Cost

2007-8

% : Cost

ratio

Three Rivers Small residual bin weekly,

AWC restBin Bin Bin Bin Box Box Box Box 47 64.80 0.73

Epsom & Ewell

Residual weekly, rest

AWC, Weekly food 23lit -

09

Bin Bin £ Bin Box Bin Box Box 30 44.36 0.68

Epping


AWC, Co-mingled doesn't

include green

Bin Sack Sack Sack Sack Box 41 65.10 0.63

Broxbourne 1 residual purple sack

weekly, AWC rest Sack Bin Box Box Box Box 30 53.21 0.56

Hertsmere AWC, 2 bin, 2 box Bin Bin Bin Bin Box Box Box 30 55.42 0.54

Watford Small residual bin weekly,

AWC restBin Bin Bin Bin Box Box Box Box 35 68.41 0.51

SpelthorneAWC, Check AWC start

dateBin Bin £ Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 25 49.11 0.51

Elmbridge


AWC, Weekly food 23lit -

autumn 09

Bin Bin £ Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin 33 65.10 0.51

Dartford


AWC, Garden Waste

Charges: £32 for service,

£39 for Bin

Bin Bin £ Bin Bin Bin Bin Box 22 44.41 0.50

RushmoorResidual weekly, rest

AWCBin Bin £ Bin Bin Bin Bin Basket 26 59.53 0.44

Borough/District

Kerbside Collection System Performance


Appendix D. Glass bring banks capture rate

In September 2006 a waste analysis was performed on behalf of Hertsmere Borough Council. Waste from 4 streets was analysed, each chosen to represent a different Acorn classification. The analysis found an overall average of 0.81 kg /household / week of glass in the residual waste bin. Given that the number of households for 2006 was 38 000 This equates to: 1600 t / year Total glass collected at bring sites in 2006 was 622 t Total waste glass = 2222 t Therefore, percentage glass collected at bring sites = 28%


Appendix E. Case studies supporting SEEC

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council

Week Type of Waste Receptacle (for unsuitable properties)

1 Residual waste 180L bin (sack)

2 Garden waste, food, cardboard 240L bin (paper bags, 25L caddie)

2 Glass, plastic & cans 140L bin (box)

2 Paper Bag

2 Textiles Bag

All materials are transferred on site, including organic waste.

Similar number of staff – approx 40 collections/20 street cleansing

Number of households - 43,000

One cage van for 1200 properties on black sacks

Cost per household for waste collection £63 (Hertsmere‟s = £47). To cut costs they are reducing residual rounds from 5 to 4.

Dry Recyclables collected in split-bodied vehicle – paper and textiles in one side (paper split open and textiles remain in bags) and co-mingled dry recyclables in other.

Organic waste

Garden waste was originally collected in bags, then DEFRA funding was used to purchase 240ltr bins. The bags are still available for additional organic waste at 50p per bag from council offices. Alternatively an extra brown bin can be purchased for £34.95. A smaller box is used for terrace properties and 5 liter kitchen caddies were issued to all homes on the scheme. Paper caddie \ wheeled bin liners are also available to purchase. WRAP did a survey with some LAs to determine what percentage of mixed organic waste is food waste – Staffordshire Moorland 50% food – a key to their high recycling rate.

Dry recyclables

Dry recyclables are sent to a MRF in Crayford, Kent to be sorted. Co-mingled gets £5/tonne. All plastics are taken type 1-6 (except 4)


Originally an open box was used for co-mingled collection of glass, plastic and cans – this was deemed unsuitable due to recyclables flying about, so the box was discontinued for collection (residents could keep it for storage). The 140ltr bin previously for refuse is now used for this co-mingled collection. An 180ltr bin was then provided for AWC of refuse. Estimation for Hertsmere: An extra 2400 tonnes glass (200 per month) will improve the recycling rate by 3.39% from 40.70% to 44.09%

Paper

Paper is sent to Germany, currently £75/tonne – annually reviewed and can‟t fall below £50/tonne.

Textiles

Textiles were introduced in 2002. Not hugely successful due to influx of charities offering similar service – crew forget to give out extra bags when they collect. £140/tonne – used to be 15 tonnes a month (with Salvation Army) now normal sacks – no charity logos - now 5t/month. Recommended: back a charity.

Promotion

Annual mailshot – service leaflet in early December to include collection dates. Roadshows, website, visits/talks etc. plus promotional dvd. (1 recycling officer, 1 waste awareness officer plus the environment manager)

Flats

1800 flats in total, recycling stickers for bins are very similar to Hertsmere‟s. Some on AWC – 50%

Enforcement

Stickers used for contamination, two yellows, and then a red – recycling officer visits resident. If no improvement an enforcement officer follows it up (two enforcement officers). Very few escalations.

Trade

No recycling currently offered to commercial customers but there is demand for paper and card. Currently 950 customers, some have sacks – 1 dedicated round.


Fenland District Council

Week Type of Waste Receptacle (for unsuitable properties)

1 Residual waste 240 L bin

2 Garden waste, food, shredded paper, dirty cardboard

240 L bin

2 Paper, clean cardboard, plastic bottles, cans, foil, cartons

240 L bin

Number of households: 40,000. Cost per household £59/60

Waste/recycling is separate to Street Scene, which is run by Environmental Services. There are two recycling officers, (one street scene officer on other team), an ops team and a shared admin team.

Reduced vehicles from 15 to 12 (4 for each stream) after the borough was split into two.

Food waste can be collected weekly if needed (in residual / recycling).

Refuse now taken to a Mechanical Biological Treatment Plant (MBT) – removes remaining recyclables, then reduces the total amount of waste plus greenhouse gases – making it „inert‟ for landfill site. Run by Donarban.

52% recycling rate (approx 30-33% is organic waste, 20-22% dry recycling)

Pay £25/tonne for dry at the moment - soon to pay/get nothing

A transfer station (above) is being built by Cambridgeshire County Council just across the road from Fenland‟s depot to make all journeys to/from a transfer site more central.

Glass

No kerbside glass collection, but over 60 bring bank sites due to the number of villages in the district. They pay £24/tonne of recycling credit to a local community group at each site, i.e. to tell them when it‟s full, etc. They estimate 50% of overall glass stream in the bring banks – however many of these sites in the villages have to go in pub car parks as they are the only suitable centre point.

Organic

Caddies sold for £2.50 in four of the market towns. £1 for 50 paper sacks.


Promotion/Communication

The borough split was communicated via letters/calendars, bin hangers, and they are currently putting up signs on lampposts to show the residents of the street their collection day. The recycling officer is aiming to do one assembly in each school. Gives magnets to whole school with what goes in bins – proved successful. There is a recycling bus, which has onboard educational resources – run by the County Council education service. A recycling newsletter goes out every six months – in a plastic wallet, delivered by blue crew through bin handles - £7000 a yr. Surveys with prize draw to encourage participation. Small rotating card wheels to show where to recycle, what goes in each bin, etc. RECAP (Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough), all districts contribute several thousand pounds per year, and they provide support, promotional items, etc. Sounds similar to Hertfordshire Waste Partnership with various different ops meetings, data meetings, etc. except that they are a separate entity to the County Council. There is one jointly funded post for a communications officer. The disposal contractors for organic waste and refuse are Donarban. They fund a „happy bin‟ project – a puppet show for school kids. Centre piece of Donarbans contract is the MBT plant with adjoining educational centre.

Flats

Flats have recycling but not brown bins (food/garden waste). More talks planned for flats in low performing areas – particularly areas with children‟s care homes.

Enforcement

Fenland District Council is anti-enforcement.

Trade

300 trade customers – one vehicle on a Friday. Just started new mixed paper/card scheme – collected in bins. So far 15/20 customers but have funding from County for another vehicle/bins so will put this out when number of customers for recycling reaches 50.


Huntingdonshire District Council

Week Type of Waste Receptacle

1 Residual waste 240 L bin

2 Garden waste, food. 240 L bin

2 Paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, cans, foil, cartons

240 L bin

70,000 properties. Cost per head £58 (was £76/78, 3 years ago) - 57% recycling rate

188,000 bins– part funded by DEFRA

3 pass collection. Dedicated vehicles for each material stream. Green crew sizes vary depending on season. Not task and finish. 24 vehicles.

Trialed tagged bins for 9,000 properties but there was a system failure.

In hindsight, would give 140ltr bins for refuse, but can‟t afford to change now.

If more than 5 in household, resident can get another bin after approved by an officer visit.

Entec/Webaspx modeling: consultant‟s reconfigured rounds –highly recommended. Built 5% capacity into rescheduling but didn‟t account for growth in recycling – success caused problem and had to reschedule slightly.

Currently use Buckden transfer station. Will be using Alconbury from 1 Dec 09.

Huntingdon put in £13,000 to RECAP (Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough).

Refuse and recycling is based at a 2 year old, £7.4 million Operations Centre. Also incorporates: Cleansing, Street Scene, car parks and markets, Grounds maintenance, CCTV and Countryside Services.

1200 employees in council – 250 at Operations Centre

Bring banks and glass

Bring banks were cans, paper and glass but cans have been pulled out and it is now mainly glass. They pay the recycling credit to local community groups. 110 glass banks – (six underground - not hugely successful). Many in pub/club car parks. Use two in-house vehicles for collection. Est. 4% of overall glass total. Starting kerbside glass collections on 1 April 2010. Bin analysis shows 6% glass in residual bin. Glass will go in with the other dry recyclables, collected in RCV‟s. They are going to keep the bring sites for a year after introducing kerbside to assess the drop rate. Then they plan replace paper and glass, banks with toy and clothes banks – to keep money going to community groups.


Peterborough had 60% reduction at bring sites and found that co-mingled glass collections using RCV‟s had negligible attrition rates. The broken glass fills the gaps in vehicle, which are currently high volume, low weight.

Dry recyclables

Huntingdonshire have joint procurement with Fenland and Cambridge City Council. They were charged £40/tonne gate fee for co-mingled dry recyclables, now paying £25/tonne. Soon to be paid £1.37/tonne. Gate fee is linked markets, within the range - £40 to + £6.

Textiles

Textiles used to be collected with other dry recyclables but the MRF had problems picking it out so it was removed from the collection.

Organic

Green (food/garden waste) taken to Marshalls. Soon to change to Dunarbon. In the last six months there has been a decrease in green waste tonnages.

Promotion/Communication

A letter detailing Section 46 notice was sent out to all residents at a cost of £30,000. A newsletter was inserted into the council magazine every quarter for the first five years. It is now bi-monthly with a page in the magazine. Hangers were used for every bank holiday, (slip a day). This was reduced to twice, now once a year with calendar and collection arrangements for all holidays.

Flats

Some flats have 1100ltr bins or clear plastic sacks for dry recycling. Work with RSLs, who pay for flats facilities. 6-8000 on weekly residual sacks – two a week, delivered twice a year (bags of 52) distributed by team of two men and vehicle. This cost is offset by the gain in control of residual waste.

Enforcement

Started four years ago. There are two officers issuing FPNs for abandoned vehicles, fly tipping, side waste. Aim is to talk/educate first, then issue FPN, and finally prosecute if necessary (successful rate).

Trade

Huntingdonshire offers trade collections only where they have to – in white sacks, collected with domestic waste. They pay the County the disposal charge. Can do up to five sacks a week free for charity shops. No recycling.


8. Version Control and Change History

Version Date Comments / Changes Name

hertsmere borough council · each module will be reported separately and approval sought at the...

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