Issue - meetings

That the committee noted the current volatility relating to both waste and recycling collection levels and rebate values for the recycling material collected in the County.

            The report was presented by the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) who explained this information was requested by Committee to understand the extensive impact the pandemic had caused on quantities of materials collected and values obtained for the material.  The Chief Officer then provided detailed information on the positive impact which was recycling which had increased by 25%, food waste collections which had increased by 10%.  The negative impact was that residual waste had increased by 7%, and that with the closure of HRC sites and suspension of garden waste collections this had impacted on overall recycling performance.  The Chief Officer confirmed the recycling performance was likely to remain the same at around 66% and provided information on the WG target of 70% for the 2024/25 financial year and confirmed that this would be brought back to committee in June with the new Campaign called “Target 70” to encourage more recycling.  He also referred to the new TV and media campaign by WG called “Mighty Recycler” which would be starting in a couple of weeks to engage with the public.  He then provided information on the financial impact on the prices for plastics and the resulting pressure on the service.  WG had been very supportive with Flintshire being one of the first councils in Wales to put forward a bid for the hardship fund because of the additional tonnage and loss of income and that the service overspend had decreased over the years because of WG support.

            The Chief Officer then referred to 1.08 in the report to re-assure Members regarding concerns with Brexit and access to European markets for recycling products.  He confirmed that access was still available but that presently all our recyclable materials were being distributed to merchants in the UK with end destinations monitored and reported by Natural Resources Wales.

            Councillor Hardcastle referred to a meeting of Hawarden Community Council the previous evening where the parking issues at Yowley Road and Crossways at Ewloe were discussed.  Wagons were finding it difficult to navigate through the cars and resulted in collections being missed and asked what procedures were in place in this situation to collect the recycling.  

In response the Chief Officer confirmed that this was a common problem in every ward with more parked cars as people were working for home and that this was becoming a big issue for the service. The recycling had to be collected and it was not the residents’ fault that they were working from home and reported on letter drops which had been carried out to encourage residents to move their cars on collection days.  Smaller vehicles were being used but there was a cost to this and that it was more cost effective to collect with our larger vehicles.  He agreed to feedback this back to the team and email the councillor at Hawarden Community Council.   

The Cabinet Member commented on the recycling figures saying the amount of recycling collected from households had increased by 26%, food waste by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48