D:\moderngov\data\published\Intranet\C00000254\M00001837\AI00007721\WasteManagementStrategyappendix0.doc 1 WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY INTRODUCTION • Forward by Councillor Bloom Objectives and Vision Dealing with society’s waste is one of the major environmental challenges that we face. While this is recognized by Central Government in the challenging targets that it has set for recycling, the Council also recognizes its role as a community leader in embracing and promoting the waste minimisation agenda as well as changing the public’s attitudes towards waste and recycling. Eastleigh Borough Council’s Waste Management Strategy has been developed against the background of the Council’s history of innovation and leadership in recycling municipal waste. The Council recognises the importance of waste management by including it in its strategic priorities and our collective vision is to become the highest performing and most cost effective waste collection authority in the country. Our aspirations are high, and we recognise that we cannot achieve them in isolation; the success of our partnership with the other local authorities in Project Integra will significantly affect our ability to achieve our objectives. Neither will we be afraid to learn from our own and other peoples successes, and also from our failures. Our objectives and the plans for achieving them are explained in detail within the document, but in summary they include: • To recycle 40% of collected waste by 2005/06 increasing to 50% by 2010. • To provide kerbside collection of recyclables to all properties within the borough. • To extend the range of materials which we collect from residential properties. • To improve the quality of collected materials by reducing the amount of contamination. • To develop (with our partners) the infrastructure and contractual arrangements for handling those materials currently excluded from the recycling (schemes). • Reviewing our arrangements for commercial waste collections in the context of the Materials Resources Strategy and the Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative to provide a more sustainable waste management solution for SMEs. • Developing a communications and education strategy that keeps waste minimisation at the top of the Council’s agenda. Corporate Strategy and Key Priorities Establish the links between the Strategy and the Corporate Objectives & key Priorities. This may be included within the forward by Cllr Bloom. Timescales
Objectives and Vision Dealing with society’s waste is one of the major environmental challenges that we face. While this is recognized by Central Government in the challenging targets that it has set for recycling, the Council also recognizes its role as a community leader in embracing and promoting the waste minimisation agenda as well as changing the public’s attitudes towards waste and recycling. Eastleigh Borough Council’s Waste Management Strategy has been developed against the background of the Council’s history of innovation and leadership in recycling municipal waste. The Council recognises the importance of waste management by including it in its strategic priorities and our collective vision is to become the highest performing and most cost effective waste collection authority in the country. Our aspirations are high, and we recognise that we cannot achieve them in isolation; the success of our partnership with the other local authorities in Project Integra will significantly affect our ability to achieve our objectives. Neither will we be afraid to learn from our own and other peoples successes, and also from our failures. Our objectives and the plans for achieving them are explained in detail within the document, but in summary they include:
• To recycle 40% of collected waste by 2005/06 increasing to 50% by 2010.
• To provide kerbside collection of recyclables to all properties within the borough.
• To extend the range of materials which we collect from residential properties.
• To improve the quality of collected materials by reducing the amount of contamination.
• To develop (with our partners) the infrastructure and contractual arrangements for handling those materials currently excluded from the recycling (schemes).
• Reviewing our arrangements for commercial waste collections in the context of the Materials
Resources Strategy and the Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative to provide a more sustainable waste management solution for SMEs.
• Developing a communications and education strategy that keeps waste minimisation at the top of
the Council’s agenda. Corporate Strategy and Key Priorities Establish the links between the Strategy and the Corporate Objectives & key Priorities. This may be included within the forward by Cllr Bloom. Timescales
The strategy will cover the five-year period between 2005/6 and 2009/10. Within this time frame, the future plans are grouped into: Short-term - These are specific actions and projects which will be delivered within the next 1-2 years; funding for these items is already agreed. Medium-term - Changes for which plans are fairly well developed, but which may still need funding or detailed implementation plans. To be delivered in 3-4 years.
Long-term - Aspirational targets which require substantial work before meaningful proposals can be put forward. OUR APPROACH The Council will work within the established waste hierarchy, “Reduce - Reuse – Recycle”. We will continue to promote the Waste Minimisation agenda through our strategy for behavioural change, including developing our work with the education sectors within the borough. We will take on board the opportunities afforded to us by the advances in technology, continue learn from best practice elsewhere within the industry, and seek to push back the barriers to high recycling by building on our expertise, success and achievements. Monitoring And Evaluating EBC has a commitment to develop and maintain systems for monitoring and evaluating services provided by the council. This requirement has developed into a performance management system that links into its corporate strategy and key priorities. The Council has adopted the balanced scorecard approach to performance management. Its purpose is to define the long-term goal for the council our values and way we work. Its service mission is to define the long-term goal for a service within the grounds of the council purpose and aims its strategic/service (approx 5-10 years ahead) that can be expressed as SMART targets.
Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time Bound
The key indicators against which we will measure our performance include the statutory Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) as well as locally developed performance indicators such as “Kilogram’s of waste collected per head disposed of to landfill” and “kilogram’s of waste collected which is not recycled”. These are summarised as Appendix ??? In addition, the Waste Volume Service Plan (WVSP) sets out the targets for different types of materials collected as municipal waste; information provided by the waste disposal authority (Hampshire County Council) enables us to monitor the actual volumes delivered on a month-by-month basis.
Communication With Stakeholders The Eastleigh Strategic Partnership (ESP) is a partnership of organisations that provide services locally or are interested in how people are affected by developments. There are eight key theme areas designed to focus activity in a way that adds extra value to the work partners are already doing. The wide variety of needs and concerns among our communities for their environment makes achieving
agreement on how we should use or protect our environment a top priority. Recycling/waste and landfill is one of the 7 key issues highlighted in the Environment theme of the ESP. All residents, partners, Parish and Town Councils are Stakeholders within the Borough. The Council has set up a Citizens Panel which is made up of some 700 residents of different backgrounds, age and sex who are regularly asked to comment on different themes put forward by Service Units. The results are published and used as a sounding board to help shape and react to changes required to services. The Citizen Panel has been asked to comment on Waste, Recycling and StreetCare issues, and this has helped formulate the way in which the strategy and waste collection service has developed. OUTLINE/CONTEXT Waste Growth Between 1996/7 and 2002/3, municipal waste tonnages increased on average around 3% per year, although this conceals some wide variations from year to year. In 2003/4, the county experienced negative growth for the first time since reliable records have been kept. Similar effects were reported in parts the UK and elsewhere in the world, however indications are that for 2004/5, the trend of growth has been restored. It therefore remains to be seen whether 2003/4 was just a statistical blip rather than evidence of decoupling of economic growth and waste arisings. Work by Brook Lyndhurst on behalf of Project Integra suggests that waste will grow by an average of 2.4% per year to 2020. The research also suggests that not all material streams will grow at the same rate. Some may experience relative decline (eg glass). Others, most particularly WEEE, are predicted to increase at a higher rate.
Predicted growth in waste by type: 2005/06 to 2010/11
Local Factors The national trends in the growth of waste will be exacerbated by the rate of growth in new properties locally. The borough’s underlying rate of growth in the number of residential properties of 1% per annum is likely to be double that figure over the next five years due to the number of major schemes already in the planning pipeline. Costs of Waste Management The cost of waste management is rising for several reasons, these include:
• Many of the variable costs associated with waste collection and transfer are linked to transport costs which have risen in recent years due the price of oil, fuel duty and EU Directives limiting driving hours.
• Waste growth. • Introduction of the landfill tax. • Tighter environmental controls on waste disposal, eg hazardous waste. • Scarcity of landfill sites. • Investment in new facilities eg MRFS, ERFs, HWRCs, Transfer Stations. • Investment in new kerbside collection schemes for recyclates and garden waste.
WCA costs have also risen as the services they provide have increased in recent years are added to the base service. Fig 2.2 below shows that for most authorities in Hampshire, the cost of the service falls between £39-47 per household per year, there is there is however no clear positive correlation between cost and performance, with the highest performing authorities both within this band.
WCA Performance vs Cost
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0 10 20 30 40BVPI 82a 2003/04
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UK political agenda The UK agenda is currently dominated by the EU Landfill Directive. The UK has historically relied heavily on landfill for final disposal of waste since it has, on the whole, been plentiful and therefore relatively cheap. Although the UK has for a number of years used an economic instrument (the landfill tax) to try and rebalance the situation, many take the view that the cost of landfill has been too low for too long, suppressing more sustainable solutions.
The EU Landfill Directive requires Member states to progressively reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill, with key milestones in 2010, 2013 and 2020. The UK potentially faces fines of up to £500,000 a day for failing to comply and in response, (since 2000) the UK Government has set up the following initiatives:
o Statutory performance standards for all local authorities. These take the form of targets to recycling and compost a percentage of the overall waste stream.
o Formation of WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk). This body was set up to develop markets for recycled materials but has diversified into other areas, including support for local authorities.
o Formation of the DEFRA’s Waste Implementation Programme to assist local authorities to deliver their targets.
o Creation of the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund which is expected to be superseded from 2006/7 by a Performance Reward Grant.
o The implementation of the Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003, which sets up a scheme of Landfill Allowances and Tradable permits from April 2005.
o Requirement for Joint Municipal Waste Strategies, which encourages Joint Working in two tier areas.
In the mid-nineties the Government undertook a partial reorganisation of UK authorities, creating unitary authorities such as Portsmouth and Southampton. The remainder of the county remained with a two-tier structure with divisions of responsibility for waste collection and disposal. As the waste management agenda has become more complex, the spotlight has fallen on the two-tier system since groups of authorities, Hampshire being a notable exception, have not worked as effective partners. The debate about creating unitary authorities will undoubtedly continue. The Government’s National Waste Strategy (2000) is currently under review, and a new strategy is due for publication in 2006. This document will undoubtedly require our thinking on waste management to be reassessed, specifically in terms of the working arrangements between Waste Collection Authorities and Waste Disposal Authorities. Regional Waste Management Strategy Eastleigh is falls under within the remit of the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) which took up responsibility for regional planning and transport in 2001. SEERA has developed a Regional Waste Management Strategy as part of its series of reviews of policies contained in Regional Planning Guidance (RPG9). The Strategy formally covers the period up to 2016, but it also looks further ahead, setting out a vision and planning framework to 2026, and even beyond. The Regional Waste Management Strategy is based on the proposition that we must change the way in which we deal with waste in the region. Within the next 20 years the strategy foresees that we will be re-using and recycling or recovering most waste and disposing of a diminishing fraction to landfill sites, this is mirrored in the arrangements already being developed in Hampshire. Its vision is for a region in which natural resources are used and managed effectively so that by 2025:
• The amount of waste produced will be minimised; • The overwhelming majority of materials will be re-used, recycled or have value recovered from
them; • The environment will be protected and enhanced for future generations.
While the Strategy focuses on planning for the infrastructure necessary to deliver sustainable waste management, it also identifies some underlying policies that are included in the Council’s own strategy, most importantly these include policies on Waste Minimisation and Recycling and Composting. Project Integra Hampshire is a relatively prosperous county with a large commuter population. It is one of the largest shire counties in England and has a population of 1,240,000 excluding the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth. Using Office for National Statistics measures, 90% of the county is rural, but the majority of the population live in urban areas.
Hampshire County Council runs services across the county, except in Southampton and Portsmouth, which became unitary authorities in April 1997. The 11 district councils within the county are:
Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Rushmoor Test Valley Winchester
At the end of the 1980s it became clear that Hampshire was facing a waste disposal crisis. Landfill sites were filling up, as they were across the country, and local incinerators built in the 1970s were not going to meet new EU emission regulations and were, therefore, coming to the end of their working lives. At the same time, the amount of waste being produced was continuing to increase. In 1988 600,000 tonnes of waste was being produced per year, of which 4% was recycled, 38% incinerated and 58% was sent to landfill. It was decided that a new approach was needed. This new approach was to involve:
• Integrated working between the Waste Disposal Authority (WDA) and the Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs).
• Community involvement in developing a solution. • Linking the new strategy to a Local Waste Plan. • The provision of new infrastructure by the private sector through a long-term service contract.
Consulting the Public To ensure that the public bought into a new strategy, in 1993 Hampshire County Council and the 13 district councils, (including Southampton and Portsmouth at the time), ran a county-wide public consultation on the waste problem and how to deal with it. The consultation involved community advisory forums, newsletters, advertisements, exhibitions and public meetings. The consultation process enabled the development of a comprehensive solution to Hampshire’s waste problem. The key points in the proposed solution were:
1) Keep waste at 1995 levels. 2) Aim for 40% recycling with composting. 3) Small capacity incinerators for 75% of residual waste. 4) Landfill the remaining waste and residues.
70% of respondents supported the proposals. The start of Project Integra This process resulted in the introduction of an integrated waste management strategy in 1995, known as Project Integra, which was adopted by all 14 councils plus the private waste contractor Hampshire Waste Services (HWS), which had just been awarded a 25-year waste disposal contract for the whole county. The main points of Project Integra’s strategy were:
• The development of a waste minimisation scheme for householders and local industry. • Source-separated collection of recyclable material available to all households within 5 years. • The provision of a network of delivery points for refuse collection vehicles. A number of these
are new transfer stations where waste from collection vehicles can be loaded into larger vehicles for transport to processing or disposal facilities.
• The construction of up to 3 major new Materials Recycling Facilities (MRFs) to replace the existing old ones. A target of 25% diversion rate from landfill by the year 2000, 40% by 2005.
• The construction of 3 new composting plants to treat collected kitchen wastes if feasible and affordable.
• The construction of 3 new Energy from Waste (EfW) incineration facilities, with a total capacity less than the estimated maximum amount of residual non-recyclable waste, to ensure a continued emphasis on increased waste avoidance and recycling.
• The alternative option to incineration involved replacing it with landfill, the recycling and composting options remaining the same. HWS did not believe that any other technology was proven or practical at the time.
• Landfill of all residues from MRFs, composting, anaerobic digestion and EfW incineration in Hampshire where possible. Where this was not available, a mixture of out-of-county landfill and landraising (agricultural tipping) was proposed.
• Contract prices for processing waste for each of the various options. It was decided that, to make the strategy a success, it needed to be supported by:
1. A memorandum of understanding between the Waste Disposal Authorities and the Waste Collection Authorities.
2. An annual waste volume service planning process linked to the contract. 3. An extensive decision-making and liaison network at member and officer levels.
Implementing the Strategy Implementing the Project Integra strategy requires action by all the partners, either individually or jointly. The respective roles of the partners are set out in Table 1 below and are underpinned by a number of formal agreements. The roles of the private sector partners are defined through contracts, the largest of which is the main disposal service contract with Hampshire Waste Services Limited. This is a long-term (25+ years) service contract that started on 1 January 1996. Hampshire County Council, together with Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils are joint clients to this contract and share responsibilities and obligations as Waste Disposal Authorities according to a tri-partite agreement. Roles and responsibilities of the partners
Role Responsibility Waste minimisation Shared by all partners
Waste collection Provision and operation of waste disposal facilities Processing Costs Income from sale of recyclables Publicity and information
District and Unitary authorities Hampshire Waste Services Ltd Hampshire County Council and Unitary Authorities (WDAs) Shared by all partners Shared by all partners
Memorandum of Understanding The relationship between the district councils and Hampshire County Council, and the role of each local authority within Project Integra is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding. This was completed in 1997 and, although not legally binding, provides the backbone to the success of the partnership. Its guiding principles are:
• Project Integra has developed from an integrated waste management strategy as a result
of close working between the District Councils and the County Council. Mutual support and cooperation has been the key to the whole operation and the success of the strategy is dependent on the continuation of this approach;
• In determining the viability of, and continuation or otherwise of any activity or process,
regard should be given to the effect and impact of that decision upon the council tax payer as a whole and the impact on the integrated waste management approach;
• Matters requiring decisions where the principles of the above apply will be referred to the
regional groups or, if countywide, to the WDA/WCA Strategy Group for determination; and • When determining matters, regard should be given to the principles of Local Agenda 21
and sustainability from both the environmental and economic perspectives, and the fact that all parties are constrained by finite resources.
Waste Minimisation The original aim of the partnership was to maintain waste from households at the 1995 levels. In reality, waste has increased by an average of 3% a year since then. In April 2002, the Project Integra Management Board decided that, for planning purposes, they needed to assume continued growth of household waste in Hampshire at 3% per annum. At the same time Project Integra recognized the need for a strategy for waste minimisation to underpin its policies for waste management. The Management Board therefore agreed a definition of the role of Project Integra in waste minimisation, which is:
• To avoid or prevent waste generation, and/or
• To promote cost effective, sustainable uses for unwanted materials and items in their current
• To promote home composting and other ‘at source’ waste reduction by householders.
Recognition of Project Integra’s achievements Hampshire’s approach to waste management has achieved significant successes and was rewarded with Beacon Status for Sustainable Development – Dealing with Waste in 2000. The County Council on behalf of Project Integra, an integrated waste management partnership involving the 14 councils and waste contractor Hampshire Waste Services, submitted the bid for Beacon Status. Project Integra is one of the largest integrated household waste management programmes in Europe.
According to the Beacon Council advisory panel, the partnership showed “a strong performance on waste diversion”, clear leadership in “the development of integrated waste management, reducing dependency on landfill through a combination of recycling and composting techniques, planned energy from waste, and a strong emphasis on community consultation and education on waste issues”. The recycling rate for the county as a whole in 2003/4 was over 27%. The collection authority rates for 2003/4 ranged widely from 11.3% to 31.8%. Recycling targets range from 16% to 33% for individual authorities by 2003/04 and between 25% and 40% by 2005/06. The overall Project Integra target is 40% by 2005/06; in order to achieve this, a number of the individual districts are going to have to exceed their 40% targets. Recent recognition of Hampshire’s recycling success came with the award of ‘Best Partnership Project for Recycling’ in April 2003 for Project Integra’s partnership with the Midland Glass Processing Company. In the recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment ratings, Hampshire County Council was awarded the top ‘4’ rating for waste management. Project Integra is clearly a success story in terms of partnership work. Although the elements within the partnership vary considerably in their innovation and success in waste management, the overall result in the project has been to pull all the partners together to achieve agreed aims. The partnership has demonstrated that it is flexible enough and valued sufficiently to overcome differences. Tough Government targets will undoubtedly put strain on the internal relationships but the strength of the organisation leaves it well placed to further encourage progress all round and to continue as the country’s most successful integrated waste management partnership.
• Local Waste Plan DB/MC
Materials Resources Strategy The Materials Resources Strategy (MRS) was launched in September 2003, and aimed to chart a new course by considering material resources rather than waste. The challenge for MRS is to minimize the need for waste management facilities and mineral workings; it aims to provide a context into which minerals and waste policy and local planning can be set and identifies as its key potential outputs:
• A new strategy to utilise waste a resource; • A minerals and waste development framework setting down planning policies; • A plan for achieving societal change to enable delivery of these two objectives.
The MRS will manage materials in Hampshire in an integrated, all embracing way. This will maximise the value of materials already in use, reduce pressures on natural resources, and minimize the problems caused by waste. The MRS aims to be practical and sustainable and to include the following elements:
1. Engaging the process change – work with all those involved in the life-cycle of materials and products at all points along the design- production-consumption-waste management chain;
2. Establishing materials recovery systems – put systems in place to manage key materials resource streams including the household, commercial and industrial sectors;
3. Delivery on the ground – enable the material resources approach to be put into practice through the land use planning system.
The draft MRS Philosophy and Principles Document “More from Less” was launched in February 2005 and is available on a specially created website (www.mrs-hampshire.org.uk). Waste Management and recycling infrastructure To facilitate the management of the integrated system the Project Integra has, during the last ten years, collectively delivered substantial infrastructure for the disposal of municipal waste; these include:
• 10 transfer stations where waste collection authorities can drop off collected waste for disposal and/or recycling, two of which are accessible for the Council’s collection service.
• 2 Material Recycling Facilities (total 157,000 tonnes per annum capacity). • A network of 26 Household Waste Recycling Centres (Amenity Sites), four of which are
within the borough. • 56,000 tonnes per annum capacity compost plants. • Over 100,000 home composters issued, 15,000 in the borough. • Over 1600 recycling bank sites, 70 within the borough. • Collection arrangements are in place to provide approx 90% of households with kerbside
collection of recyclables, the figure for the borough is 96%. Incineration The initial public consultation regarding the development of Energy from Waste (EfW) plants came up against a significant number of objections from people living near proposed sites, as well as from environmental groups and some local politicians. In order to attempt to address those concerns, Project Integra’s final plan included the following provisions:
• The proposals for EfW incinerators are subject to full study of their environmental impact. • Any research undertaken as a result of this requirement is independently audited. • There is independent background monitoring and auditing of plant noise and emissions. • All facilities are capable of being upgraded to meet new standards if necessary. • All facilities will be designed to high architectural standards with appropriate attention to the local landscape setting.
In September 2003 the first of three new incinerators opened at Chineham near Basingstoke. The plant will process 90,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste each year and will generate around 8 Megawatts or electricity for the national grid, enough to power more than 8,000 homes.
Objectors claim the incinerators will act as disincentives to developing further recycling schemes and that the money spent developing the plants would be better spent researching and putting in place new schemes for waste minimisation and recycling.
With the Government’s tough targets for recycling, there is some concern that three new incinerators may result in over-capacity. Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) A materials recovery facility (MRF) is a specialised plant that separates, processes and stores recyclables, which have been collected separately from waste. MRFs are important to achieving higher levels of recycling as this is dependent on sorting material to make sure it is of a high enough quality such that it will have a ready market and a net environmental gain. The sorting of materials is done by a combination of hand picking and automatic sieving, screening, the use of magnets and electric fields to remove the metals. MRF’s are usually housed in large warehouse-tyre buildings and need to be located so as to optimise collection and minimise transport. Landfill Landfill is the controlled deposit of waste to land. Often working and extraction sites are used as landfills, providing a means to restore land. However where such holes in the ground are not available, it is possible to deposit waste onto the ground surface and build up a waste to land has been an important method of waste management since the volume of waste arisings has been sufficiently great to warrant specific consideration, and although landfill is placed at the bottom of the waste management hierarchy it is an important and necessary means of effective waste management. Approximately 85% of UK household waste is landfilled. Central Composting The number of centralised local authority commissioned organic waste composting facilities in the UK has been increasing rapidly since 1990. In 1995 over 30 schemes were operating, taking waste from parks and gardens or source-separated garden waste taken by households to household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) or collected direct from residents to homes. In Hampshire over 40,000 tonnes of green waste are processed through centralised facilities each year. The majority of central composting schemes use the turned windrow method a process in which piles of shredded and mixed organic waste approximately 3 metres high 4 metres wide and any length are constructed. The windrows are turned regularly to ensure an even mixture, to provide aeration and to control temperature and moisture, composting in such a way can produce odour problems and attract flies, if not properly managed. The quality of incoming material for composting needs to be carefully controlled. Waste derived compost can be used as a soil conditioner and improver for residential gardening, parks and agriculture and for land reclamation, but concerns over its quality have limited its penetration of the major potential outlets in commercial horticulture and agriculture. The green waste processed centrally in Hampshire is turned into pro- grow soil conditioner and sold through the HWRCs and under other hands e.g. B&Q & Hilliers. It is a very high quality soil association accredited organic soil conditioner and is used for landscaping projects nationally. EXISTING ARRANGEMENTS The Twin Wheeled Bin Scheme (Alternate Weekly Collections)
Eastleigh was a pioneer of the system of alternate weekly collections (AWC) of household waste; the system provides each household with two bins, one for mixed dry recyclables and the other for residual waste. The scheme provides a kerbside collection service for recyclables to about 96% of the domestic properties within the Borough. The Council took two and half years to roll out the scheme borough-wide with the last round to being implemented in November 1998. The standard issue to households is a pair of 140 litre bins, a green bin for dry mixed recyclables, and a grey bin for residual waste. Households of three or more occupants can upgrade the 140 litre bins to a pair of 240 litre bins. Residents can put all paper, card, magazines, phone books, envelopes, junk mail, any cans, plastic milk containers (minus tops) and other similar squashy-type plastic, such as shampoo bottles and drinks bottles, in the bins. They are asked not to put in hard plastics and brittle plastics, such as yoghurt pots, as these cannot yet be recycled.
YES PLEASE NO THANKS NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES CLOTHING/MATERIAL Catalogues CLING FILM Junk Mail CARRIER BAGS Telephone Directories YOGURT POTS Greetings Card TISSUES Cereal Boxes MARGARINE TUBS Cardboard ICE CREAM CARTONS ALL FOOD & DRINK CANS MEAT TRAYS/POLYSTYRENE PLASTIC BOTTLES – For example
Milk & Fruit Juice Bottles Fizzy Drinks Bottles Squash Bottles Mineral Water Bottles Household Cleaner Bottles Shampoo Bottles Detergent & Fabric conditioner Bottles
Flats and high-density properties Before the Council introduced alternate weekly collections, they surveyed all roads and flats to see which properties may have problems in storing wheeled bins. Many of the low-rise flats in the borough did not have sufficiently large bin stores to accommodate a pair of wheeled bins for each individual flat. These flats were instead supplied with a pair of 1,280 litre communal bins, one for recyclables and the other for residual waste. Residents were then issued with black sacks for residual waste and clear sacks for recyclables. It was then the responsibility of individuals to put the right sack in the correct bin. The Council found that some flats that were owned by Housing Associations suffered from high levels of contamination in the recycling bin. Despite working through housing managers, and using letter drops and other publicity, it was almost impossible to track down the culprits and change the behaviour. This was probably due, at least in part, to the fact that many of the flats have a high turnover of residents and the Council was not able to succeed in getting the message across. To ensure that contaminated recyclables were not collected from other residents on the same round as some of the flats, the Council
took the decision to remove the flats from the recycling system and revert to a weekly collection of domestic waste from them. Green Garden Waste We offer a subscription based service for the collection of Green Garden Waste from households; all material collected under the scheme is centrally composted and converted into soil conditioner. The policy on charging for this service is designed to encourage the continuing use of Home Composting as the preferred method of disposal for this organic material, thereby minimizing the volume of waste that requires processing and/or disposal. Recycling Bring Sites Although local residents receive a recycling collection, use of the bring sites has not declined. Most residents have access to a local bring site. They provide an important local amenity and make a valuable contribution to the Council’s recycling achievement. The first bottle bank site was launched in 1980, since then the number of banks has grown along with the different types of material collected via this method. There are currently 62 public bottle banks, 10 paper banks, 5 can banks, 23 clothing banks, 23 shoe banks, 5 book banks and 5 aluminium foil banks. Glass is collected and taken to Midland Glass Reprocessing in Southampton where it is reprocessed into glass cullet from there the glass cullet is transported by ship to factories in Yorkshire, Ireland and Continental Europe to be made into new glass bottles. Glass cullet is also used in construction and road marking. Newspapers and magazines are collected by Aylesford Newsprint Limited who takes the paper to their Paper mill in Kent where it is pulped, de-inked and made into newsprint. Textiles, shoes and books are collected by a number of different charity groups for re-use and recycling. Cloths, shoes and books are received for sale in charity shops. Other textiles such as wool and cotton are sorted and recycled by the textile industry. Mixed cans are transported to Otterbourne Transfer Station where they are added to the dry mixed recyclables collected at kerbside and transported to the Portsmouth Materials Recovery Facility. Volunteers collect aluminium foil from a local community organization. The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Activity Centre provides residential and day facilities for disabled adults and children from all over the country. The foil is sorted and baled at the centre and sold back to industry for re-processing. The proceeds are used to help the centre continue to provide activities for its visitors. Targets and Accomplishments Summary of performance and future targets to be inserted. POLICIES AND PLANS
In the medium to long term, the Council will be faced with some critical decisions on how it will reach and sustain recycling levels of 40% and above. There will be some modifications to existing arrangements for dealing with municipal waste but perhaps more importantly, there must be innovation to increase the range of materials collected and to improve participation rates and minimize contamination of the waste streams. Trials and New Developments This section outlines those changes to the service that are planned for delivery within the next 1-2 years. Kerbside Collection of Mixed Glass
At the end of 2004, a trial scheme for the collection of glass was launched funded through the DEFRA Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund. Under the scheme, residents are provided with a 38 litre black plastic box for the collection of mixed glass: the collection service is monthly with residents placing their collection box at the edge of their property. The trial is based on 21,000 households in the borough. Kerbside Collection Of Textiles The vehicle purchased to provide the kerbside collection of mixed glass has an inter-changeable body, which allows the vehicle to be used for the collection of clothing. On four separate weeks each year a kerbside collection of clothing will be provided to approximately 6,000 households, thereby covering the whole borough in a 2-year period. The service will be run in partnership with the Salvation Army who will supply and deliver a plastic collection sack and leaflet to residents. EBC will carry out the collections of the clothing and load a 40-foot trailer supplied by the Salvation Army to transport the clothes to their sorting facility in Kettering. The expected yield from these collections is approximately 1 tonne of clothing per 1000 properties. Over the period of 2005 and 2006 all households in the borough will receive at least one kerbside collection of clothing. Extending the collection of recyclables to all properties The Council is currently re-looking at collections from flats and are revisiting many of them to establish if it is possible to supply them with bins so that residents who do want to recycle can take part in the system. We are working in the premise that it is better to get a small amount of recyclables from these properties than none at all. Although the individual contact is proving time consuming, the Council is finding that the response has been positive from many in the flats who are keen to recycle. It is anticipated that all properties will be included in the collection arrangements for recyclables by the end of 2005/06. ROTATE (Recycling and Organics Technical Advisory Team) have been commissioned to provide some technical advice on how best to include these additional properties; their report is expected before the end of March 2005. Alternate Weekly Collection Scheme
The restriction of capacity (through alternate weekly collections) has been one of the key factors in increasing the recycling rate. The question of whether or not to continue the collection of side waste is the logical progression from this principle; in turn, this will also lead to review of the existing policy regarding standard bin size. Other authorities’ experience suggests that standardising on 240 litre containers while at the same time adopting a “closed bin and no side waste” policy leads to the
maximum capture recyclables; although this claim will have to be tested. Council will be asked to make a decision to either reaffirm the existing policies or to change within the next municipal year.
The adoption of Supplementary Planning Guidance that requires developers to make adequate provision for the storage of waste will help ensure that all new properties can engage in the AWC scheme. This, along with the (retrospective) provision of kerbside collection arrangements or facilities at properties previously excluded from the scheme, will help maximise participation rates. Behavioural Change Strategy Hampshire County Council are acting as Lead authority for the Project Integra partnership in formulating a programme for research, waste minimisation and communications. The objectives of the strategy will be:
• To produce a 2-way communications programme based on sound research data to provide benchmark data and establish key messages, target audience and communication methods; • To monitor and compare the effectiveness of a range of communications methods; • To measure the impact of the communications campaign on the quality and quantity of the dry mixed recyclables collected; • To assess the resource requirements needed to increase and maintain higher recycling rates; • To engage the community sector to assist with the delivery of communications.
Appendices ? to ? summarise the key elements of the emerging strategy
Education Programme “Recycle for Hampshire” Launch Event Road Show and Community Events summary Getting Your House In Order (GYHIO) Management system Summary “Recycle for Hampshire” Training Summary Printed Materials Website Doorstepping activities – target areas Media engagement Household Waste Forecasting User Tool Waste Composition Analysis Facility
This programme is funded jointly by Defra and WRAP and is time limited to the end of 2005/06. One of the key decisions that will face the Council will be to determine the costs and benefits of sustaining the programme once funding has elapsed. Improving the quality of collected materials In 2003, Project Integra commissioned a waste analysis project examining the impact of Alternate Weekly Collection on MRF input quality. The project concluded that while alternate weekly collection schemes did not in themselves increase contamination; there was an average of 15% by weight of non-compliant material arriving at the MRF from all WCAs, and typically loads contained around 12% non compliant materials. Approximately half of the non-compliant material was potentially recyclable but outside the specification e.g. hard plastic packaging. The other half was essentially residual household
waste. The former could be accounted for by householder confusion over what materials to recycle, the remainder was down to either deliberate or accidental contamination. The drive for quality was made a priority in the 2004/5 Project Integra Annual Business Plan. In addition to the Behavioural Change Strategy, it was proposed to set up facilities for a comprehensive, full time waste and material resource analysis programme. This facility will be operated permanently to undertake waste analysis for all partners, according to a pre-agreed programme. The programme will include background sampling from all partners and special projects for more intensive sampling, for example before, during and after a time of change. Home Composting
Within Hampshire, the Council records one of the lowest volumes of waste collected per household; this is in part due to the success of the home composting initiatives, which has included the free provision of compost bins to residents. About 30% of households within the borough have taken up the option of free compost bins, with a continuing small demand for new bins in spite of a lack of specific marketing. Stocks of (and budgets for) bins will allow the Council to continue with its current policy for another year, and since Home composting will remain as one of the key elements of the waste minimisation agenda, the Council will need to decide how best to ensure maximum participation in the scheme. The Council will address the policy on the free issue of home composting bins by the end of 2005/06.
Waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
From August 2005 the WEEE directive will make all retailers and distributors of electrical and electronic products (fridges, TV’s, mobile phones, computer monitors etc) responsible for taking back WEEE on a one for one basis when supplying a new product. The legislation is focused on the producers, encouraging them to prevent the generation of waste and promote re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery. They must also restrict the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The objective of the legislation is to minimise disposal of WEEE as unsorted municipal solid waste and set up collection system and targets and deadlines have been set in place from 2005 in terms of collection systems, and 2006 for rates of separation, recovery and recycling.
The challenge for the Council is to develop its bulky waste collections to include WEEE, which will soon have to be recycled. Some work is being carried out with the Hampshire Natural Resource Initiative (HNRI) to evaluate local opportunities for dealing with this type of waste.
The four local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC’s) are likely to play a major role in providing the public with a means of disposing of electrical goods. Research - High Diversion Project Funding has been secured from Hampshire County Council to undertake research into the potential for high diversion of municipal waste. The Resource Recovery Forum (RRF) has already commissioned some (general) research which argues that there is something of an information fog on this topic. A range of conflicting targets has been proposed for waste diversion, the Government’s Waste Strategy 2000 sets a target of 33% by 2015, while the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit recommends 45%. Some NGOs cite examples in Europe and North America which show that 60% is achievable. It is widely accepted that recycling performance is low in Britain when compared to other European member states. What is not known, is how high can the diversion rates be pushed, and at what cost. The proposed project, covering up to 18 months will seek to establish what is the practical and affordable limit in Eastleigh; it will do so by working closely with a small pilot group of householders,
possibly based on the Botley Community Waste Action Programme area, and will aim to establish targets for the amount of residual waste generated per household. The results of the project will help inform the future direction of this strategy. Kitchen and Bio-Waste: is composting an option? Composting is a biological process in which micro- organisms convert degradable organic matter into carbon dioxide and water vapour, using oxygen in the air and leaving a bulk-reduced, stabilised residue known as compost. Composting of household waste may reduce the environmental impact of having to incinerate or landfill the waste, and could provide a by-product that can improve soil structure, increase fertility and improve fertiliser efficiency. Composting is ideally applied to Green garden-type wastes and most commonly undertaken in open windrows. It is more problematic when used for kitchen waste because of difficulties with odour, insects and contamination, and the Bio-waste Regulations currently prohibit processing in this way. As such, alternative technology and infrastructure capacity will have to be developed, most likely in the form of In-Vessel composting: no capacity exists in the Hampshire area. Kitchen waste offers the biggest potential gain in terms of waste diversion, accounting for about 20% of the total waste stream. The Council will as part of its High Diversion Project establish the practicality of extracting this waste and consider what infrastructure is needed to support its processing. Funding Future Plans The strategy assumes that the Council will continue to seek external funding for new initiatives, which will increase its recycling rate. However, it is almost inevitable that these funding streams will be time-limited, with ongoing financial (revenue) implications for the Council once the funding expires. Any ongoing additional revenue costs would have to be met from within existing budgets or compete with other Council priorities for any available resources. In the recent past, the Council has secured government funding of £173,000 from DEFRA Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund round 2 for a pilot scheme to collect and compost Green Garden Waste. In addition, Hampshire County Council was awarded a further £5 million pound as part of the DEFRA Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund round 3; of this money £3.26 million was set aside for Hampshire Waste Collection authorities to bid for funding to improve or commence new collection schemes. From this fund Eastleigh secured £190,000 over a two-year period to trial the kerbside collection of mixed glass and textiles. The 2004 DEFRA spending settlement includes an extra £155 million PFI credits per year by 2007/08 compared to 2004/05, an extra £20 million per year by 2007/08 for the new waste management performance reward grant providing investment in sustainable waste management and a new programme to support effective management of waste by business. The Council has just been awarded £37,695 in 2005/06 from this fund, with the expectation of further grants in 2006/07 and 2007/08. These grants will be used to support the development and exyension of recycling arrangements.
£4 million raised from landfill tax will be helping WRAP to develop new markets for a number of difficult business wastes as part of the Governments new Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme (BREW). As well as developing new markets for tyres, batteries and plasterboard, WRAP will also be developing a pilot project for the collection and recycling of waste from small businesses and expanding its current Business Development Scheme (BDS) which provides funding and advice for businesses involved in recycling. The Council will actively support these initiatives locally.
The new round of Public Service Agreements will make available about £2-3 million within Hampshire as part of a performance related fund. These agreements reward authorities that choose to invest additional resources to improve their services, and for the fist time County Council’s are being require to engage with District Councils to deliver challenging improvement targets. Other assistance that is available “in kind” includes technical support from Government funded bodies such as WRAP, ROTATE (Recycling and Organics Technical Advisory Team), WIP (Waste Implementation Programme) and LASU (Local Authority Support Unit). In general, the Council will be proactive in seeking external funding as a means of developing new initiatives for recycling and waste minimisation. SPECIFIC INITIATIVES Partnerships Potential for economies of scale through closer, or joint working with adjacent authorities. Working with community groups. Sponsorship of educational initiatives. Working with Schools
The Council has recently carried out a lot of work in local schools to promote recycling and waste management. For a number of years, all schools have had the opportunity to have a visit from the Recycling Officer, who gives a talk and shows a video about waste management, minimisation and litter prevention (this facility has also been extended to community groups, such as Brownie and Scout packs, Women’s Institutes and residential homes). The children also see demonstrations of the recycling and street cleansing vehicles. Over the last year the Council has offered schools the opportunity to have the school’s waste audited. This has proved very popular; it is very much a ‘hands on’ project as the children become involved in sorting the waste, and it provides the schools with a good guide as to how much and what type of waste the school typically produces in one day. The school is then set the challenge of finding ways to reduce the school waste and to communicate the message around the school. Council Officers return to the school a few months later and carry out a second audit to measure how successful the school has been. One primary school reduced its waste by a massive 38%. Another recent initiative has involved working with teachers’ representatives to integrate resource management into the National Curriculum within the context of Citizenship, and to this end a joint newsletter, ‘Waste Not Want Not’, is being produced quarterly. The Council is also hoping to introduce a Tidy Schools Award scheme and is working with one school on the EnCams Eco Schools project. Examples of ‘Waste Not Want Not’ should be placed in the appendices
Commercial Waste Eastleigh Borough Council currently provides a trade collection to a large proportion of its schools. For many years, schools we have visited have asked if EBC could offer them a collection service for recyclables. Mainly due to lack of MRF capacity and operational difficulty we were unable to oblige. Following a review of this situation a decision has been taken to offer a regular recycling service to all
schools currently served by EBC’s trade service. Trials began in May 2004 with one school to offer a collection service for the dry mixed recyclables; the school continues to have a weekly collection of residual waste and a fortnightly collection of dry mixed recyclables. This scheme will be available to all schools within the borough from April 2005. The logical extension of these trial arrangements is to include SMEs: a survey of our trade waste customers suggests that over 50% of their waste could be recycled. There are also potential financial and operational benefits to be accrued from co-mingling domestic and commercial collections; the successful integration of these two waste streams will depend upon agreement with the disposal authority, and possibly on the use of new technology for dynamic weighing of bins on the refuse freighters. FUTURE PLANS This section will identify some of the other initiatives that might form part of the medium to long-term plan for achieving the Council’s recycling performance. It will include:
Green Waste o Marketing and promotion of the existing scheme. o Operational review to maximise efficiency StreetCare o Improvements to the arrangements for the collection and composting of leaves o On-street recycling bins o Extraction of recyclables from street litter Glass Collections o Expansion of mini-sites to embrace Flats, Sheltered accommodation etc. o Boroughwide roll-out of kerbside collections Bring Banks o Review of infrastructure to maximise the yield and range of materials collected Bulky Collections o Potential Partnerships e.g. with SCRATCH Enforcement o Adoption and use of existing powers which are already available to encourage recycling at the individual household level. Batteries, mobile phones etc. o Evaluate the opportunities for recycling as part of the High Diversion Project. Non-domestic waste o Evaluate co-mingled collections with domestic waste as a means of supporting the Natural
Resources Initiative, and reducing operational costs. o Develop service for the collection of recyclables from the commercial sector.
BEACON COUNCIL Does the Council wish to be seek Beacon Council status under round 7 “Waste and Recycling”?
ACTION PLAN A summary of the improvements identified within the strategy, along with proposed timescales and potential resource implications. NEXT STEPS
• Approval and Revision APPENDICES
• Project Integra Memorandum of Understanding • Maps to show location of infrastructure, both County-wide and local • Waste Volume Service Plan • Assumptions on predicted waste growth • Performance information and future targets • Case Study - Community Waste Action Programme • ROTATE report on high density housing • Supplementary Planning Guidance • Behavioural Change Strategy and Communications plans • Corporate Strategy and Key Priorities.
GLOSSARY REFERENCES (including hyperlinks)
CASE STUDY - BOTLEY AND BOORLEY GREEN COMMUNITY WASTE ACTION PLAN (CWAP) Eastleigh Borough Council focuses on providing a personal interface with the public – going out and talking to people, listening, being visible in their communities. A Community Waste Action Programme was set up in 2002 using a village with approximately 1,000 properties as a pilot. Through public meetings and involvement, residents are making decisions about the type of recycling facilities, where they are sited and research into systems of collection. They are helping to devise a strategy for breaking down the barriers to recycling. Initial results show an increase in the recycling level within the pilot area of up to 5%. The project technically came to a close in September but forum members want to continue to meet on a reduced frequency. The Council plans to hold a public celebration when they will pass the “baton” on to a newly appointed project manager funded by Hampshire Natural Research Initiative. The lessons from this pilot will therefore be progressively rolled out across the Borough. This project will involve 50 volunteer households to establish buying habits, what are the barriers to recycling and many other questions. The Council will also be examining ways of extending the waste minimisation and recycling ethos to school and commercial waste. Aims of the Demonstration Project
The primary aim of the demonstration project was to raise local awareness and gain community support with regard to waste issues, and to reduce the confusion that currently exists with regard to the materials that can be recycled. The success of the project will be measured by an increase in percentage of waste diverted to recycling and in the number of households engaged in home composting, and improvements to local recycling facilities through partnership with the Parish Council. The project was planned to last 12 months. Why Botley? The Parish of Botley has judged to be the most suitable for the project because:
• Botley has a well-defined village area with a strong sense of community pride. • A positive relationship exists between the Parish Council and the Borough Council. • Refuse collections from the Parish are undertaken in one day by one vehicle, thereby making it easy to monitor outcomes. • All house types are represented within the village making it a fairly representative of the Borough as a whole. • There are a number of community groups already in existence, some of which had expressed a desire to become involved in recycling initiatives.
The First Steps A project group comprising officers of the Council and members of the Parish Council established the key targets for the project. These were published in community newsletter, the “Botley Recycler”, which was distributed to all 1080 households within the pilot area. The newsletter also promoted a public meeting at which the project was to be formally launched, backed with a poster campaign in the village, and the issue of “flyers” via the local school to parents. The public meeting attracted about 30 participants from the public and from the Parish Council. Volunteers to form a focus group were identified who would help take the project forward. This focus group has met approximately every 2 months since April 2002. Funding for the project came from the Local Area Committee’s Community Investment Programme budget (£2,000), from the corporate sustainability budget (£500) supplemented by officer time and promotional materials provided by the Recycling Staff in the Council’s Direct Services Unit (£1,800). Key Results A local site for additional community recycling banks (textiles, foil, books) was identified and, with improved signage and a service level agreement between the Borough and Parish Councils to maintain its cleanliness, it has proved very popular. Christmas tree recycling also takes place on the same site. A detailed questionnaire about the recycling arrangements achieved a 36% return rate, and revealed that some of the barriers to recycling related to a lack of understanding of the collection arrangements. This has been addressed through better communications and promotions. The subsequent edition of the “Botley Recycler” focused on the issues raised in the survey, seeking to dispel some of the confusion about recycling by explaining where and how materials can be disposed of.
The promotional literature was re-designed with the help of the focus group to make it more user friendly. The annual calendars issued to all households in the Borough reflect the group’s ideas and input. The focus group has identified 9 sites within the Parish where mini-collection points for glass can be placed. Banks of 3 x 240 litre containers for different colours of glass plus litterbins will be placed on streets within easy walking distance of households. Contacts with the local school prompted discussions on how we could include the recycling theme into the citizenship element of the national curriculum. As a direct result, a working group that includes teachers representing key stages 1, 2 & 3 has been set up, and we are now producing a quarterly newsletter to all schools within the Borough entitled “Waste Not, Want Not”. Success or not?
The diversion rate of materials into recycling from all sources within the Parish has increased from 28% to 32% during the period of the trial. Take up on home composting is likely to increase by about 3%, increasing the overall figure to almost 50%. “A measure of your success is that recycling has replaced the weather as a main topic of conversation”. Bob Nimmo, CWAP focus group – 2nd July 2003. Where Next?
The success of the project has led to plans to undertake a much more detailed study into the practical limits of waste diversion from both the domestic and commercial waste streams. The Council and Hampshire County Council will resource this study, based in the existing demonstration project pilot area under the auspices of its Natural Resources Initiative.
