Agenda item

            That the Committee notes the level of income generated from sales of the material recycled by Flintshire residents and the positive progress made to date.

The Head of Streetscene introduced the report to update members of the Committee on the volumes of material collected and the level of income received from the sale of recyclates collected by the Council.   He explained that the cost of collecting recycled material was higher than the value of income gained from the process and that values of recyclates were subject to market forces, so much so that 3 monthly contracts were put in place to ensure the best prices possible were secured for Flintshire. The shortfall in the cost of delivering the recycling service was recovered by a grant from the Welsh Government.

                        The Cabinet Member for Waste, Public Protection and Recycling said that it had not yet been confirmed by the Welsh Government the levels of Sustainable Waste Management Grant (SWMG) for 2013/14.

                        Councillor J Johnson asked why the council were not already recycling textiles.  The Head of Streetscene said that it was only recently that textiles had seen an increase in value.

                        Councillor G.H. Bateman asked if the contracts were fixed price contracts.  He asked what would happen if all of the companies that purchased Flintshire recyclates decided that they did not want to purchase a certain commodity.  Councillor Bateman asked how aluminium cans were separated from tin and asked if the Committee could view the recycling operations.  The Head of Streetscene said that if contracts were long term they would offer better value, but it was difficult to secure longer term contracts at good rates.  There was a pool of contractors who were engaged in an ongoing formal tendering process to bid for Flintshire recylcates.  There was one long term contract in place which involved a paper recycling operation.   The Head of Streetscene said that it was unlikely, at any given time, that all of the potential purchasers would refuse to purchase a certain commodity.  Should this occur, the Council would have to pay to have the items removed.  The selling on of recyclates was always cheaper than paying for it to go to landfill.  Aluminium cans were separated by a magnet and baled separately. 

                        The Chair agreed that it would be useful to visit the recycling facilities and asked the Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator to arrange this.

                        Councillor M. J. Peers said that it was good to see a £120,000 saving in land fill costs thanks to the success of the recycling operation.  He said that he would have liked to have seen information around costs, so that he could compare costs since the launch.

                        The Chair said that good progress had been made with the recycling service and that scrutiny now needed to focus on costings.

                        Councillor D. Butler asked if the 1469 tonnes of recycled material referred to in paragraph 3.04 was an annual figure or a figure that represented the number of recylates since the introduction of the programme.  The Head of Streetscene said that this information would be provided in subsequent quarterly reports.

            RESOLVED:

            That the Committee notes the level of income generated from sales of the material recycled by Flintshire residents and the positive progress made to date.