Agenda item

To consider the report of the Head of Environmental Health Services – report circulated

The Recycling Manager presented the report updating Members on progress with the Recycling Plan since its approval in 2006 and seeking ongoing support for recycling initiatives.

She responded as follows to Members’ queries:

·         the Green Team, set up in partnership with the Express and Echo and Gregory’s Haulage Company, would continue although it was not known if Devon County Council, through the LAA, would continue to fund the Education Officer’s post after the remainder of the academic year. The sponsors were meeting shortly to discuss future funding for the project. If there was no further funding for this post, decisions would have to be made about allocating existing resources to support the Green Team by reducing work in other areas;

·         new legislation from the EU might be interpreted by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs so as not to allow composted waste that was not to the industry standard of PAS 100 to be brought into future recycling figures. Officers undertook to advise all Members as soon as possible on the consultation taking place on these proposed changes. It was proposed to respond to consultations on these changes on a Devon wide basis through the Devon Authorities Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee;

·         subject to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 coming into force on the 1 October 2011 only 80 tonnes of material would be allowed on the Council’s green waste site at any one time. This would prevent use of the site to produce compost from the parks waste and, as a consequence, the Parks and Open Spaces team were reviewing how to manage their green waste with a view to shredding more material at the point of production;

·         some 14,000 of the 18,000 properties on weekly collections would move to fortnightly from September 2010, the balance representing those properties with no space outside their properties to leave waste bins;

·         savings were projected from the remodelled collection rounds scheduled to go live on 20 September with the new collection calendars to be circulated shortly; and

·         through WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme), a City wide mail drop had been undertaken to educate the public on the importance of not contaminating recycling and there had been a significant reduction in contamination at the MRF. Warning letters and support for those with disabilities were undertaken rather than seeking prosecutions. Previously, there had been three education/enforcement officers with one transferred to full educational duties and the remaining two subsequently reduced to one. Members expressed their concerns at this reduction in the number of enforcement staff, but were reassured that this had not led to any reduction in the quality of materials being collected for recycling.

Scrutiny Committee - Community:

(1)        noted the progress that the Council had made to date in implementing the Recycling Plan 2006-2011;

(2)        supported the Recycling Improvement Plan for 2010/11;

(3)        asked for an update as soon as possible to all Members on the implications of the changes resulting from the new EU legislation that may result in the requirement to compost to an industry standard before it is deemed “recycled”; and

(4)        asked for their concerns regarding the reduction in the number of enforcement staff as a result of the introduction of new collection areas to be examined.

(Report circulated)