Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director (DB).

Place Scrutiny Committee considered the report at its meeting on 12 September 2019 and its comments will be reported. (The appendices were previously circulated to the Scrutiny Committee and are accessible through the link above).

The Executive considered a report, which had already been presented to Place Scrutiny Committee on 12 September 2019 (Min. No. 48 refers) setting out investment options for the Council’s Materials Reclamation Facility (MRF) and kerbside recycling service. The scheme would ensure that food waste and glass was collected as part of the kerbside recycling service, meeting the expectations of both the Government and City residents, whilst reducing carbon emissions.

Particular reference was made to the ongoing Government consultation on a new waste strategy and its findings would be included in the scheme. Emphasis on the work undertaken by officers was made and that Members had been given the opportunity to inspect one of the potential new recycling vehicles and consider potential issues before the fleet was rolled out. Other authorities had also been consulted to learn from their experiences of adopting a similar style service.

During discussion, the following points were raised:-

·         The new recycling vehicles contained food waste storage, which during inspection contained four day old waste, with very little odour;

·         The work for the recycling scheme had faced several obstacles, but challenges had been overcome and the work of all staff involved was acknowledged;

·         The work of the MRF team had been recognised at the recent staff awards;

·         The Ocean Recovery Project (a partnership between Keep Britain Tidy, Exeter City Council and Odyssey Innovations) had produced a series of kayaks using recycled plastics and contributed to the building of the Shangri-La stage from entirely recycled marine plastic at the Glastonbury Festival, earlier this year;

·         Following the roll out of the new recycling bins, the previous bins could be recycled into the Council’s new bins or offered to allotment holders for storing water and this would be suggested to the Allotment Forum.

RECOMMENDED that Council approve:-

(1)  The adoption of Option 4 (weekly kerbside-sort recycling collection, incorporating glass and food waste collection, with three weekly rubbish collection) and associated investment in the Materials Reclamations Facility; and

(2)  To implement the chosen service Option 4, Council approve budgets of:-

·         £200,000 is set aside from General Fund revenue reserves to provide the project management and assistance with roll out;

·         A capital budget of £2,105,000 is provided for the improved recycling containers; and

·         A capital budget of £1,500,000 to enhance the MRF.