Issue - meetings

That the Committee welcome the report and support the work undertaken to maintain the bulky waste collection during the pandemic.

            The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) introduced the report which followed a request from committee in November last year.  The pandemic had impacted the collection of bulky waste items and the actions and challenges Refurbs had faced were outlined in the report.

            The Regulatory Services Manager provided an overview of the bulky waste collection service which provided a way of disposing items too large for kerbside collections. An overview of items described as bulky waste was provided.  Refurbs Flintshire collected items which could be re-used, restored, and refurbished, then sold at good prices in their showroom in Flint.   A record was kept of these items which linked with our recycling performance and Target 70.  Appendix 1 listed items collected by Refurbs, but she confirmed that home improvement waste such as kitchens, bathrooms, garden upgrades were not able to be recycled using this service. The residents were asked to dispose of this waste appropriately via an approved waste contractor.  White goods such as refrigerators were collected free of charge by the Council.   

            The Regulatory Services Manager then referred to the timeframes for collections by Refurbs which was normally carried out with 6 working days with items placed within the boundary of their property.  Support was provided by Refurbs to those who required assistance.  There was a charge of £40 for up to 5 items and £5 for each additional item with 10 items taken away for £65.  There were reductions for those residents on benefits to £20 and £5 for each additional item and this could be arranged twice a year.  These charges were reviewed within the Fees and Charges Policy on an annual basis.

            Section 1.06 in the report outlined the number of requests and tonnages collected but that during the pandemic this service was suspended and the HRC sites were closed.  This unfortunately enabled services such as “man in a van” on social media to thrive but these individuals were not regulated, and residents had no idea where the waste would end up.   Residents had been encouraged to ask questions on where the items were being disposed.

            The team at Refurbs had a backlog of bookings following the pandemic and if the date was too long for residents to wait, they were asked to use a registered service for disposal.  Refurbs also had reduced numbers of staff, due to self-isolation or with restricted ways of working and recruitment was also an issue as this was a social enterprise.  Residents were informed of the date the goods would be collected and the staff kept them updated.  The time for collection had been extended to 10 or 15 working days.  Currently there were still slight delays but moving forward the service was back on track.

            Councillor George Hardcastle asked if the information on bulky waste charges in section 1.05 could be sent to all Members for information.  This was agreed.

            Councillor Sean Bibby thanked the officers for providing detailed explanations regarding items for collection.  He referred to his ward and asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66