Venue: Committee Room 5, Guildhall, Swansea. View directions
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.
Minutes:
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2. |
Notes PDF 107 KB
To approve & sign the Notes of the previous meeting(s)
as a correct record.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
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3. |
Public Questions
Questions must relate to matters on the open part of the
Agenda of the meeting, and will be dealt with in a 10 minute period
Minutes:
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4. |
Recycling and Landfill - Annual Performance Monitoring 2017/18 PDF 103 KB
·
Mark Thomas – Cabinet Member for Environment and
Infrastructure Management
·
Chris Howell – Head of Waste Management and
Parks
·
Matthew Perkins – Group Leader Waste Management
Additional documents:
Minutes:
- Welsh Government has a
national strategy for waste and interim targets until they place a 70%
recycling target
- Swansea Council exceeded
its target for last year but it was a slight dip on the year before due to
the reclassification of wood recycling
- Swansea Council are around
10th in the league table for Wales which is really positive due
to some restrictions e.g. commercial waste, students and high density
housing which limits space for recycling
- Swansea Council don’t
benefit from incinerated tonnage like some other Councils keeping their
scoring position artificially low
- Next year (2019/2020)
recycling targets will increase from 58% to 64%. If these targets are not
met, there is potential for Welsh Government to issue fines
- Priority areas were
identified in the Commissioning Review and are being worked on
- There is still substantial
amounts of recyclable waste going into black bags and this needs to be
tackled at the kerbside
- The service are encouraging
waste minimisation e.g. food and plastics
- The 3 back limit has
impacted positively on the kerbside
- Changing to recycling only
centres has really improved recycling – Swansea Council are leading on
recycling centres in Wales with other authorities coming to visit to see
good practice examples
- There is a regional food
waste project with Bridgend
- Rubble recycling
facilities contribute to the recycling figure and restricts commercial
waste at recycling sites
- The service must continue
a strong communication strategy with the public
- Must also encourage any
residents who don’t currently recycle to start recycling
- Some review in Welsh
Government over what is considered as ‘recycling’ currently and some
definitions may change in the future
- Financial pressures include
paying for disposal of certain products, cost of which varies greatly and
is always changing in line with the market and the grants from Welsh
Government which will be decreasing going forward
- Question 1 – Plastics are an increasing concern. Not being able to
recycle soft plastics is problematic and increasing black bag numbers. Can
you comment?
- Plastic increases are a
concern as ‘flimsy’ plastics are not currently practically recyclable due
to sorting difficulties and costs – processors say that processing flimsy
plastics is problematic and not cost effective for companies to process
- There is a new group
called Plastic Free Swansea who have links with Swansea Environment Forum
and Welsh Government is working with processors in this area
-
- Question 2 – How is Garngoch Recycling
Centre performing? Timescales and details on Tir
John closure? Cost of disposing of food waste?
- Feedback on the trial of
the reintroduction of black bags at Garngoch. Broadly the reintroduction has gone
smoothly although there are low numbers using it, queuing has increased
due to the loss of parking, and satisfaction of the site has dropped
significantly.
- The aim is to landfill Tir John landfill site until 2022 when it will be closedThe site will then be sealed and landscaped by 2024
- Food waste costs around
£20 per tonne to dispose of
- Question 3 – Can you clarify the position on wood recycling
reclassification?
- High quality wood can be
recycled for animal bedding and the lower quality used for worktops etc The Wood
Processor was recycling 100% of our wood, but this has changed
- NRW and Welsh Government
believe the wood to be too low quality to be all recycled, now require the
poorest quality wood to be removed, so it is now at 70 – 80% recycling,
contributing less to overall recycling figures
- Question 4 – Can you clarify the position on nappies, is there
kerbside collection?
- Nappies are now recyclable
and can be taken to recycling centres, are collected if separately if
required through the Exemption Policy, however there is general no
kerbside collection as this is not affordable
- Plastic can be extracted
from them
- Some nurseries are
trialling having theirs collected and having a specific nappy bin for this
purpose. Parents using the nurseries are encouraged to bring their nappies
in and use the specific nappy bin too
- Question 5 – Why is there a restriction on the number of garden
waste bags?
- The reason garden waste is
limited to 10 bags is a time issue – the team have to complete the round
and emptying all of the garden waste bags can be time consuming
- Question 6 – what is the plan after Tir
John Landfill site closes?
- After Tir
John landfill closes long term solutions are needed, we are working with
WG and neighbouring Councils to see if a South West hub the best way
forward
- A consultant is currently
looking at options ranging from a new plant to using existing ones – being
mindful that residual waste is reducing as a result of increased recycling
- Question 7 – What is the policy on business recycling and disposal
of waste? Do you feel this has led to fly tipping? What is the education
strategy?
- There is a statutory duty
to provide commercial waste service when requested but this is chargeable
- Businesses which recycle
can dispose of rubbish more cheaply and tradespeople should go over the
weighbridge to ensure they pay for the disposal of waste properly
- Figures do not show that
this had led to an increase in fly tipping
- Waste in standard litter
bins is not sorted for recycling but litter pickers do sort litter for recycling
- Education needs to be
widespread and social media used more
- The inclusion of
Councillors when disseminating information would be very helpful so they
can pass it on to their wards
- Question 8 – what are you doing to increase the base income figure
to relieve the financial pressure?
- Income is always being
reviewed in order to generate more, however the cost of disposing of and
selling waste is subject to volatile and constantly changing market prices
- Question 9 – some commercial food waste is perfectly usable, what
do we do to ensure it isn’t wasted e.g. from supermarkets?
- Supermarkets have national
contracts to deal with that kind of food waste
- Question 10 – Would it be wise to remove dog bins and replace with
litter bins given that dog waste can now go in these?
- It isn’t in the plans but
this will likely happen over time
- Question 11 – Could the Council look at skip collection on a
commercial basis?
- Swansea Council currently
operate a commercial skip service for caravan parks and farms. Potential
to look at winter skip collection for items which would contribute to
recycling figures
- There is a balance between
gaining income and adversely affect recycling performance which needs to
be achieved for this to be viable
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5. |
Work Plan 2017/18 PDF 66 KB
Minutes:
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Add end of year item with Ben Smith
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Letter to Cabinet Member PDF 183 KB
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Response from Cabinet Member PDF 288 KB
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