Agenda item

To receive a presentation from the Council’s Contracts Manager setting out the details on the current recycling performance in the Borough and options for improvements including the potential financial benefits.

The Panel received a presentation from the Council’s Contracts Manager setting out the details on the current recycling performance in the Borough and options for improvements including the potential financial benefits.  The Council currently collected recycling, glass and garden waste fortnightly and general refuse weekly.  Residents were charged for garden waste collection and bulky waste was collected on request which also incurred a charge. The quality of service provided was high.  However, the recycling rate was poor and the cost of the service was high.

Rushmoor Borough Council was responsible for waste collection in the area but Hampshire County Council (HCC) was responsible for waste disposal.  HCC was ranked as the overall best performing county for waste diversion from landfill but was one of the lower performing areas for recycling.  The range of materials for recycling was also limited but Rushmoor could only accept items specified for recycling by HCC.  In the national performance table Rushmoor was rated very low, all Hampshire authorities were ranked in the bottom third.  The waste contract currently cost Rushmoor around £2.1m per year.  Following a benchmarking exercise conducted in 2015 Rushmoor was ranked as the most expensive waste service per household.

A number of ways to improve recycling had been considered including introducing free garden waste collections and food waste collections.  A Hampshire-wide working group was looking into the options for increasing the range of materials that could be recycled. Incentives to recycle could also be introduced along with an education campaign.  Nevertheless, it was felt this would need to part of a wider campaign to create a significant impact.  Options to restrict the volume of general waste was shown to produce a more significant improvement in recycling rates which could include initiatives such as the use of smaller refuse bins and the introduction of an alternate weekly collection.  A new contract was in the process of being procured which would address some of the high cost issues.

The Alternate Weekly Trial carried out in 2007 showed an increase in the recycling and composting rate from 23% to 36%, although it was noted that this had included kerbside glass collection as a new service for the trial.  There had been a low number of complaints and there had been no significant evidence of any increase in flytipping and vermin during the trial.  There had been some issues highlighted as part of the trial, including the difficulty for flats due to bin capacity and insufficient capacity for larger families.

Cllr Jeremy Preece raised an issue relating to the safe storage of batteries awaiting recycling.  The Contract Manager reported that the issue was being discussed by the Council’s Directors Management Board the following week.  A communications plan was being developed to highlight the message to residents regarding the safe storage of batteries.

The Panel discussed the issues with the cost of the waste service and the poor recycling performance in the Borough and across Hampshire.  The  Panel believed that recycling levels were unsatisfactory and the service needed to be reviewed.  The Panel was uncomfortable with the statistics and called upon the Cabinet to take action.

The Panel NOTED the presentation.