C
Thorpe gave a presentation showing members the performance and
achievements of the department over the last year. The main points
of the presentation were:
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Over 1,200 more tonnes of co-mingled recycling has
been collected in the first three quarters of this
year.
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There has been a continued increase in food waste
collections. In late February 2016 food waste stickers were
introduced across the borough on all household refuse bins. This
caused a surge in caddy requests and an increase in food waste
tonnage, collections have increased by
100 tonne week and has been maintained.
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Over 400 tonne more garden waste has been collected
this year than last mainly due to Quarter 2.
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The Additional Garden Waste Subscription Service
allows householders to opt-in to having any additional green-lidded
bins emptied if they subscribe to the service. Residents still have
one green-lidded bin emptied fortnightly during the garden waste
collection season, this service is
simply an optional extra for those who generate a higher volume of
garden waste. The service was launched mid-season at the beginning
of June, an additional bin costs £25 and for 2016 the
subscription fee to have each additional bin emptied was £35;
rising to £50 for 2017 onwards. By the end of the garden
waste collection season over 100 additional bins were sold and in
total there were 407 subscriptions. This year, subscriptions and
additional bins have been on sale since February and we have sold
75 extra bins and 439 subscriptions, however the garden waste
collection round has only just begun again at the beginning of
March and so it is expected that this figure will continue to rise.
Combining 2016 and 2017 (as they both have fallen into the same
financial year due to the 2016 mid-season launch and 2017
pre-sale), we have generated over £40,000.
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On average there has been a drop of nearly 5% in the
household residual waste.
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Contamination: The yearly average is 2.7% for
2015/16 and 2.9% for 2016/17.
With a contamination rate averaging below 3% Dacorum is
consistently top ranking for the best quality material being sent
to Viridor out of 29 other companies
that deliver there.
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In terms of overall performance, the national league
table for borough’s recycling rates shows us that for
2014/2015 we were 139/352 with a recycling rate of 46.3%. We are
now at 86/352 for 2015/2016 with an overall rate of
49.1%.
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In March and September the Waste Electrical
Recycling Collection for schools in Hertfordshire took place again
thanks to Hertfordshire Waste Partnership and their partner
European Recycling Platform.
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To celebrate International Compost Awareness Week,
Cupid Green Depot held its fifth annual Free Compost Giveaway in
May. The event was scheduled to last for three hours but had to
close its doors early as 10 tonnes of compost, around 500 bags, was
given away to residents in just one hour.
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Christmas tree recycling event – recycled over
3000 Christmas trees.
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The Clean for the Queen campaign ran from
mid-February to the end of April 2016 with the main designated
clean-up weekend as 4-6 March. The Council promoted the campaign,
loaned litter picking equipment to groups, collected litter bags
after events and collated final figures
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Replanting on various roundabouts across
Dacorum.
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Various playgrounds have been tendered out for
refurbishment.
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Clean, Safe and Green’s annual operation to
clear litter from a 26-mile stretch of the A41 was completed in
February. The area cleared stretched from the M25 junction to the
boundary with Buckinghamshire. Work started by clearing rubbish
from the central reservation by partnering with HCCs contractor
Ringway in order to share the cost of
traffic management. A two week operation was then carried out to
clear the slip roads, junctions and grass verges followed after.
Approximately 10 tonnes of litter and bulky rubbish including car
body parts and road kill was collected.
Councillor Anderson said he was concerned about staff clearing
fly tipping when the waste could potentially be toxic.
C
Thorpe said if there is any concern over the contents of the waste,
specialist contractors are brought in. Also, council staff do not collect asbestos.
Councillor Matthews asked what the level of prosecution was for
fly tipping.
D
Austin said there had been no prosecutions in the first three
quarters of this year. There are hotspots for fly tipping around
the borough and preventative work is being done.
Councillor Matthews referred to the compost give away event
– does the council provide residents with their own
composters or compost accelerators?
C
Thorpe said composters are sold at a reduced rate and adverts are
placed in the Dacorum Digest.
Councillor Riddick congratulated officers on the excellent work
with recycling and the great relationships between schools and
supermarkets. There is a recycling centre at Sainsbury’s in
Apsley which is often in a bad state.
Does the council have any involvement with this?
C
Thorpe said he believed the council collected the waste twice a
week. There are issues surrounding commercial waste being dumped
like local pubs leaving their glass bottles. The problem is worse
during the Christmas period.
(After the meeting, it was confirmed that the council
no longer provide an empting service at this site at the request of
the store)
Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe said this was also a problem at Tesco in
Jarman Park. There is a space at the end of the banks that has just
turned into a dump for household rubbish. It gives people the
impression that the Council are failing in their duties but these
sites are on private land.
Councillor Howard said on a positive note, the borough is
looking much nicer and it is a joy to enter at the Maylands Gateway
with the new bedding plants on the roundabout.
Councillor Anderson said he understood that the Head of Trees
and Woodlands is to retire – will there be a
replacement?
C
Thorpe said he was due to retire in June and there are plans to
find a replacement.
Councillor Anderson appealed to Hertfordshire County Council
members to support the council’s in its A41 litter
clearance.
Councillor Riddick hoped there was some coordination between
picking litter and cutting the grass or cutting the grass before
picking the litter would mean the litter being shredded.
C
Thorpe said it takes twice as long to pick the litter in long
grass. There were a few weeks were the department could pick litter
when Hertfordshire County Council did some lighting work on the
central reservation.
Councillor Hicks asked why pubs are disposing of their glass in
public recycle bins.
C
Thorpe said the council do not provide a commercial glass
collection. As glass is the heaviest commodity, they are charged
more for collection.
Outcome
That the Strategic Planning and Environment
Overview and Scrutiny Committee approve the
report.