Agenda item

C Thorpe introduced the report and advised the Committee that quarter 2 had been slow which may be the calm before the storm at Christmas time. C Thorpe went through the key service achievements in quarter 2. Waste services carried out an induction was provided to St Albans staff who are temporarily tipping their food waste at Cupid Green and they hosted the Mayor’s visit to Cupid Green where worked with teams emptying bins and picking litter for the day. With regards to Environmental Services Projects, the Clean, Safe and Green Community Champion award was awarded to Friends of Chipperfield Common and the individual award was presented to John Savage from Tring. There were also highly commended runners up: Berkhamsted based litter picker Colin Garrett and Boho Boxmoor. The Clean, Safe and Green department have set up a new team with new equipment dedicated to cleaning the new Town Centre removing graffiti and fly posting. The Green Flags awards saw Dacorum retain its three existing flags and were awarded one new flag for Bunkers Park. C Thorpe also advised the committee on personnel changes and they have recruited new drivers which reduces the use of agency workers. Also, the new FirstCare system is working well after a few teething problems but sickness rates are still high. Return to work compliance is being monitored however it is difficult to complete these assessments in the recommended 8 days as many staff members are not office based. Furthermore, co-mingled waste recycling decreased from quarter 1 as did garden waste but that is to be expected at this time of the year. All targets have been achieved on the performance report but the recycling rate target was 60% but for this quarter it reached 53.6% and this is slightly down on quarter 1 where the recycling rate hit 56%.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe thanked C Thorpe for the useful report highlighting the work that the service carries out. Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe questioned whether the new Town Centre cleaning team would also be focussing on the Old Town as the town now has two new, beautiful zones to up keep.

C Thorpe said that the new cleaning team has been brought in for both the New and Old Town, it just happens to be that the launch of the new team coincided with the completion of the New Town.

Councillor Matthews referred to page 9 in the agenda and asked why there were no figures provided for general waste collection.

C Thorpe said that he has never reported these figures to the committee but that information is supplied by Hertfordshire County Council so it is possible to report on residual waste figures in the future if members would find that useful.

Councillor Matthews stated that in his street, he was aware of residents putting out their food bins religiously every week at the beginning of the scheme. However, he said he had noticed a drop in the number of food bins being put out. Is the food waste drop off related in an increase in general waste?

C Thorpe said that there is work to be done on this. The department is putting together a project next week where the team will go out with a clicker before the food waste is collected to establish the rate of participation. This will identify areas where participation is low and then they can be targeted after Christmas. The service is also planning on door step campaigns. It is possible to use data for Hertfordshire County Council as a comparison.

Councillor G Sutton suggested that the drop off in recycling rates may be because this quarter has coincided with the summer holiday period.

Councillor Anderson asked if it was possible to publicise that people are able to throw their food waste out every week over the Christmas period where a high volume of food is thrown away.

Councillor Hicks asked if the drop off in food waste collected was due to the residents running out of the green plastic bags.

C Thorpe did not think this was the case as the green plastic bags would have probably run out last quarter.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe commented upon the current high profile campaigns by celebrity chefs and wondered if they might have an effect in the future. Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe suggested that the Council should have their own waste campaign and promote good household management. 

Councillor Hicks stated that most food waste is actually vegetable peelings and therefore are not waste but a by-product.

Councillor G Sutton mentioned the celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s waste campaign and TV programmes. He suggested that it was clear from these programmes that people were unaware of the recycling process and perhaps it might be useful to get in touch with Channel 4 to use their material.

C Thorpe said that the service is currently in discussions with a large food retailer to take part in a national campaign to reduce food waste and grants would be given out. It is in its infancy but should be able to report on this in the next quarter.

Councillor Anderson suggested if it would be possible to introduce some kind of enforcement in the future.

C Thorpe replied saying that it has been proposed to put large ‘No Food Waste’ stickers on the recycling bins which is not an enforcement measure but trying to encourage residents. 

Councillor Marshall asked the Chairman to confirm if he wanted residual waste figures brought to the committee.

Councillor Anderson stated he would.

Councillor Birnie asked what the return to work compliance consists of and why it takes so long to complete.

C Thorpe explained that the reason for absence is logged and upon their return to work, targets are set and it is established whether they are fit to return to work and what support is needed to help them when they do return to work. He also mentioned that some staff come back with a phased return to work so it is difficult to meet with them.

Councillor Matthews returned to the previous point regarding enforcement. He stated that he understood the need for compliance but would find it difficult to put anything in place without having carried out a survey of non-compliance.

Councillor Anderson suggested that chipping bins would be another way of tracking waste however there is the issue of civil liberties.

Councillor Marshall said that the refuse collectors do look in the recycling bins but people do hide non-compliant rubbish under rubbish that should be in the bins. It is not easy to determine misuse of the system.

Councillor Howard said that some people do compost their rubbish and do not use the green bins. Councillor Howard also stated that as we are in a society now where free plastic bags are not provided, will residents not use plastic bags and instead just throw the food waste away loose and then there is the issue of unpleasant smell in the bins which then may discourage them from using their food waste bin.

C Thorpe said residents can also wrap rubbish in newspaper. Essentially, the aim is to divert as much waste away from landfill as possible.

Councillor Ashbourn echoed what Councillor Matthews said regarding enforcement and there are costs associated and therefore it is important to be sure of the problem that needs solving.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe asked C Thorpe how much it costs to take waste to landfill.

C Thorpe said £94 a tonne and food waste costs £35 a tonne. The Council are rewarded by Hertfordshire County Council for diverting waste away from landfill through the Alternative Financial Model.

Councillor Anderson said that he feared a point will come when the Council would have to ‘up the anti’ and use enforcement. It will then be important to communicate to residents what this enforcement is and why it is being put in place. This also requires justification and relates back to Councillor Matthews point regarding a survey being carried out.

Councillor Birnie asked if there were any comparative figures between authorities.

C Thorpe said that with regard to recycling rates, Dacorum Borough Council is 3^rd out of the 10 authorities.

Councillor Birnie said that would be a useful set of statistics to be presented regularly to the committee.

Outcome

The Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the report.