Agenda item

To receive a report and a presentation from the Operations Manager for Street Scene & Open Spaces and the Head of People, Performance & Waste reviewing the progress made to date by Bin-It 123 and considers the key elements of the next strategic phase that are necessary to maximise recycling rates as well as increase resident engagement and support.

The Group had before it a report * from the Operations Manager for Street Scene and Open Spaces and the Head of People, Performance and Waste reviewing the progress made to date by Bin-It 123 and considering the key elements of the next strategic phase that are necessary to maximise recycling rates as well as increase resident engagement and support.

As promised at the June PDG meeting, where future collections of unused metal pots and pans were recommended to Cabinet for collection (and which are now in place), this paper set out the current situation regarding Bin It 123 and future plans.

This included the following:

·         A strategy to help reinvigorate Bin-It 123 to help households nudge more of their residual waste into their recycling. A 7.3 kg shift in this direction per household per annum raised the Councils recycling rate by 1%.

·         Key aspects of the strategy were covered including some of the issues detailed by the Head of Digital Transformation and Customer Engagement earlier in the meeting, as well as Education and Enforcement, and a focused Communications Strategy.

·         The report also set out some of the future recycling collections the Council could consider implementing, including disposable nappies and the collection of soft plastics, which was a mandatory collection to be introduced no later than 1 April 2027.

A presentation was provided which set out some of the key issues and discussion points to go alongside the report. This included information in relation to the following:

·         Key household statistics

·         Priority Risks

·         Reinvigorating Bin-It 123: Outlining the Resident Pathway

·         Components of the Bin-It 123 Strategy

·         WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme)

Consideration was given to:

·         How imperative it was that the recycling rate was increased since one of the benefits would be at least an additional £600k income to the Council.

·         It was incumbent upon all of us to have those conversations with residents.

·         Some potential income streams would be affected by what was statutory and what was flexible.

·         Cabinet needed to make decisions that were based on evidence, having fully considered the costs and risks.

·         Regarding the recycling of pots and pans there were some restrictions, for example, no teflon, however, the Council was trying to limit restrictions where it could and it was confirmed that all metal kitchen appliances could be taken to a household waste recycling centre.

·         The biggest challenge was in convincing residents, through communications, of the importance of increasing recycling.

·         The possibility of incentivising those residents who regularly recycle large amounts, options could be investigated.

·         The ‘mechanics’ of recycling nappies.

RECOMMENDED to the Cabinet that

a)    It approves the proposed strategy regarding reinvigorating resident awareness and participation with the Bin-It 123 scheme.

b)    It receives an evidence based report from the officers regarding potential additional recycling collections in order to make informed decisions moving forward.

(Proposed by Cllr M Farrell and seconded by Cllr C Harrower)

Reason for the decision

An increase in recycling would further enable the Council to reduce its carbon footprint and hit its carbon net zero commitment. Recycling is one of the most ‘mainstream’ concepts of addressing overarching sustainability goals, therefore it is vital to make sure that the council is maximising the effectiveness of both its scheme design, but also its operational implementation.

Note: * Report previously circulated.