Issue - meetings

That the Committee note and support the submission of a grant funding application to promote repair and reuse initiatives.

            In presenting the report the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) outlined the proposal for the joint funding bid for the re-use project with Refurbs Flintshire which had been submitted to the Landfill Disposal Tax Community Scheme via the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.  As this funding was not available for the Council support had been provided to enable Refurbs Flintshire to submit a bid.  This fell under the Waste Minimisation and Diversion from Landfill to encourage reuse and recycling.

            The Regulatory Services Manager reported that this was first looked at in 2019 and that following discussions with residents and comments made at Housing Recycling Centres (HRC) sites it was being reviewed.  There were many items being disposed of which could be re-used and recycled.  Charities had been approached to attend the HRC sites, speak to members of the public to divert good quality items from being thrown away.  Several charities were keen to get involved but then the pandemic struck so this was halted.  Discussions were now being held with the charities to move this forward and proposals for the pilot, firstly with Refurbs, being developed.  She referred members to 1.05 in the report which detailed the proposals and arrangements for the storage container.   These items would be collected from each site and delivered to a central hub operated by the Council. They would then be sorted into bulk lots such as toys, textiles, bric-a-brac etc for the Charities to sell.  A library would also be created at the hub for recorded media and books which could be loaned.  It was envisaged that once this was up and running donations would be delivered directly to the hub rather than the HRC sites.  There were also proposals for kerbside collections of textiles in the first instance.  If the funding was successful there would be a publicity campaign with the volunteers from Refurbs and other charities working at the HRC sites to engage and promote this with members of the public.  She provided an overview of the items that would be focused on for this pilot.

            Referring to the grant funding the Regulatory Services Manager confirmed that there was significant competition for this with only one successful applicant per year.  The bid had been made as bold and ambitious as possible to ensure it stood out.  If this bid was unsuccessful work would continue to pursue and identify any additional funding.  If successful, the project would commence in April 2022 until March 2023 dependent upon the funding.  Consideration had to be given for the infrastructure, building and vehicles but that the key focus was to promote this and raise awareness.  There were benefits for the charities and the public would be less likely to throw these reusable items away.  The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) commented that once the public were aware of this service, they would be less likely to dispose of these at the HRC sites, thus saving good quality items from landfill.  Consideration also had to be given to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65