Decision details

Changing public recycling sites to commingled collections in order to make the service more efficient.

Matter for Decision

The Bring Bank service covers banks which the council provides at public recycling points around the city.  At present there are twenty five sites, four of which are at supermarket car parks, fourteen on council land and seven on miscellaneous other sites.

 

The recycling points offer residents a recycling outlet for a range of materials such as textiles, that cannot be recycled through the kerbside scheme, as well as segregated banks for paper, glass, cans and certain plastics, all of which are now collected at the kerbside.

 

There is a dedicated Council vehicle which collects the segregated materials from these sites. The other material banks are emptied by contractors.

 

Prior to the introduction of the blue bin scheme, this vehicle also collected segregated recyclate from flats and colleges.  However, almost all of these collections have now been changed to the commingled blue bin collections.

 

This vehicle is currently not fully utilised and operational savings could be achieved if the banks at public recycling points were changed to commingled banks and the vehicle taken out of service.

 

The additional income generated from the sale of segregated materials is no longer sufficient to offset the cost of running a dedicated vehicle.

 

Sorting capabilities of Materials Recycling Facilities (MRF) have improved over the years so that it is now possible to generate high quality recyclate from commingled materials.  Improved glass-sorting technology enables mixed glass to be sent to glass-sorting facilities for sorting by colour, so that more of it can be used to make glass bottles.

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Environmental & Waste Services

       i.          Approved the changing of segregated recycling banks at public recycling points in the City to commingled banks, in order to make the collections more efficient and reduce costs.  This changed service to commence from the end of September 2014.

     ii.          Approved the use of the existing containers, with new labelling explaining that all materials can subsequently be recycled in one container.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Head of Refuse and Environment.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Head of Refuse and Environment said the following:

       i.          Twenty five sites across the city would provide co-mingled recycling facilities.

     ii.          Materials no longer needed to be separated into different bins for recycling at their collection point. Advances in technology means that the sorting capabilities of MRFs have improved so that it is now possible to generate high quality recyclate from commingled materials.

   iii.          The Head of Refuse and Environment acknowledged that the commingling of waste at recycling sites could be seen as a step back, but assured the Committee this was not the case. To manage expectations and signpost facilities around the city, the Head of Refuse and Environment undertook to:

·       Issue press release details, which would be copied to Ward Councillors. Also general information regarding facility sites and the rationale for commingled recycling.

·       Set up a tour of MRF facilities for councillors and members of the public. Tours of MRF facilities were currently available to the public on the first Tuesday of each month at Amey Cespa's Waterbeach facility.

   iv.          The commingling of waste should reduce the number of bins residents needed to use at the Bring Banks. Residents could bring their waste to recycling sites in large cardboard boxes (when appropriate) as these could also be recycled at the twenty five sites.

 

The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse the recommendations.

 

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.

 

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.