Agenda item

To receive a presentation from the Marketing and Development Manager.

The Marketing and Development Manager provided those present with information on communicating waste and recycling.

A copy of his presentation is attached.

The Chairman thanked the Marketing and Development Manager for his presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel as summarised below.

Councillor Mrs Squire asked if data on levels of waste collected had been compared to population growth.  The Marketing and Development Manager explained that comparisons had not been made, but information could be made available if required.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Councillor Long felt that the increased levels of waste could be down to affluence and people now buying more products and getting rid of old products now that the recession was over.  He commented that the population increase meant more homes and more people paying Council Tax to pay for the waste collection service.

Councillor Mrs Bower referred to textiles and commented that they could sometimes be bulky items.  The Marketing and Development Officer commented that textiles and bedding could not be recycled.  Options could be looked at such as a textile collection services and also small electrical items which often were put in recycling and caused contamination.  The Chairman explained that there were options available to recycle textiles such as the bins at the fire station, or giving them to animal rescue centres.  The Marketing and Development Officer commented that he worked with the Salvation Army.

The Vice Chairman explained that residents within her ward had raised issues regarding bagged collections and agreed to raise her issues with the Marketing and Development Manager.  The Vice Chairman referred to a questionnaire which had been sent to all residents and commented that she had not received one.  In response to the questions raised by the Vice Chairman, the Marketing and Development Manager explained that an information pack would be sent to all households on how they could be involved in the waste and recycling project and would include details on how residents could become Waste and Recycling Champions.  He anticipated that fifty to sixty Champions would be appointed and over thirty had been appointed already from people who had expressed an interest.

The Marketing and Development Manager informed the Panel that public engagement exercises and ways to raise awareness would be carried out, including door knocking, face to face contact and the use of social media.

The Marketing and Development Manager explained that data could be retrieved from the collection vehicles about the service provided, waste collected and amount of contamination.  He explained that bins with obvious contamination were tagged and not collected.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Councillor Long explained that over the years the Council had taken many different approaches to increase recycling levels and reduce the amount of contamination.  He explained that fixed penalty notices and enforcement action had been used in the past.

The Vice Chairman commented that residents in her Ward who had bagged collections had found it difficult to request more bags and the Assistant Director agreed to look at setting up an electronic form so that they could be requested online and would be delivered during the collection rounds.

Councillor Moriarty felt that the Council should look at a more purist approach and should accept that the service may come at a cost.  He asked if there were ways the Council could make the trade waste collection service viable by offering incentives.  He also referred to ‘recycling on the move’ in public places and asked how this could be rolled out as it had been in other places such as train stations and airports.  The Marketing and Development Manager explained that trade waste would be looked at and how the Council could encourage take up.  He referred to the Sustainable Restaurant Association which provided advice on reducing the amount of food used which would result in financial savings for the business.

In response to a question from Councillor Smith, the Marketing and Development Manager explained that social media monitoring would be used to underpin the key messages that were put out.  The Council would not reply to individual comments, but use the comments to formulate the information provided to residents.

Councillor Hipperson referred to fly tipping and how incidents were usually dealt with very quickly.  The Chairman reiterated Councillor Hipperson’s comments and commended the service provided.

In response to a question from Councillor Moriarty, the Portfolio Holder for Environment commented that providing public recycling bins on the street was likely to result in a lot of contaminated recycling.  The Executive Director explained that ‘recycling in the move’ worked in busy places such as airports and train stations, but did not feel that it would work in the Borough.  The Executive Director referred to budget savings which were required and the limited resources available.  He commented that the value of recyclables varied and any initiatives and projects taken forward by the Council needed to be financially viable.  The Marketing and Development Manager commented that with regards to ‘recycling on the work could be carried out to encourage people to take their recycling home with them and dispose of it correctly.

Councillor Hipperson referred to the public perception when bins were emptied as it sometimes looked as if all waste was being put into the same waste cart.  The Portfolio Holder for Environment explained that the vehicles had split bodies so different types of waste could be collected on the same round.  This information was available on the vehicles and some of them had side loading compartments.

RESOLVED: (i) The update was noted.

(ii) That the Marketing and Development Manager provide the Panel with an update at their meeting in August.