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CLIMATE PANEL

Waste Background & Scoping March 2020

Contents

Contextual History ...... 3 ...... 3 How does effect climate change? ...... 4 The Waste Heirachy ...... 5 Waste Processing – the least damaging option ...... 6 Redbridge ...... 7 The contract ...... 8 Performance ...... 8 World Recycling Market in Crisis ...... 9 Redbridge’s 2019 Waste Reduction Strategy ...... 11 Wheelie Bin Pilot ...... 12 Update on Recycling Working Group 2012 Recommendations ...... 13 Defra 2023 a year of change? ...... 14 Inequalities of Waste ...... 15 Climate responses of other Authorities ...... 16 Redbridge Scoping commitments ...... 17

Contextual History The connection between waste and public/environmental health has been understood for centuries with the first waste strategy being developed as early as 1751. We think of recycling as a modern introduction however by 1800 London already had both an informal recycling collection system, and an organised “residual” system. This system was based around a series of Dust Yards in London which captured the coal ash from residential fireplaces. Dust (or ash) collections were introduced as part of the civic strategy to improve air quality and reduce industrial smog. The residual coal fire dust was recycled and in high demand by the brick making industry or as a soil conditioner in the South East to support the additional food production that was required to support London’s expanding industrial population. To this day our “Dustman” hark back to this early waste management system and even modern wheelie bins are stamped with “no hot ash” again as a reminder of the early days of waste collections.

Landfills The disposal of waste in sites has its origins in Crete in 3000 BC where waste was placed into soil covered pits. In the UK the Public Health Act 1875 required householders to store their rubbish in dustbins and made local authorities responsible for the removal and disposal of waste this led to the development of the modern landfill. Most early landfills were backfilled aggregate sites and the majority of waste put into them was chemically inactive (inert) coal ash that had minimal gas emissions.

This is demonstrated by the composition of Dagenham’s waste in 1936 below. Organic matter had always traditionally been home composted. This continued until the 1920s when the first plastics (Bakelite) came onto the market. It is not until post war afluence that waste management and the compostion of the modern household bin begins to detrimentally effect climate as the compostion of the materials being delivered to landfill became chemically more active due to the high proportion of organic matter.

How does waste effect Climate Change? The Greenhouse Gases of Methane, Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide are the prime causes of Climate Change. Methane and Carbon Dioxide are generated by waste decompostion. The connection between decomposing waste in landfilll and climate change gases is now firmly established. The legislated the in April 1999. The aim of the Directive was "to prevent or reduce as far as possible negative effects on the environment, in particular the pollution of surface water, groundwater, soil and air, and on the global environment, including

the greenhouse effect, as well as any resulting risk to human health, from the landfilling of waste, during the whole life-cycle of the landfill".[ (At the same time tighter regulations were imposed on the management of historic landfill sights. The above picture demonstrates that there are thought to be over 19,000 historic landfills in the UK.) The UK response to this legislation was:-

The UK's targets are:

 By 2010 reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 75% of that produced in 1995  By 2013 reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 50% of that produced in 1995  By 2020 reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 35% of that produced in 1995

The Waste Hiearachy The European Union also published its waste heirachy in 2008 to minimise waste being sent for disposal.

Waste Processing – the least damaging option The commissioned a report in 2001 written by AEA “Waste Management Options and Climate Change”. This report was to assess the climage change impacts of options for (MSW) management in the EU and it covered the 15 states of the European Unon at that time. The report compared the following processes :-

Landfilled of untreated waste

Bulky untreated MSW is deposited in landfills.

Incineration (Inc)

Mass-burn of bulk MSW with and without energy recovery.

Mechanical Biological treatment (MBT)

Bulk MSW enriched in putrescible materials is subjected to a prolonged digestion process which reduces the biodegradable materials to an inert stabilised residue. This treatment results in significant reduction in methane.

Windrow Composting (Com)

Garden and food waste are segregated at source and composted.

Aneaobic Digestion (AD)

Like composting – however the waste is digested in sealed vessels under air-less (anaerobic) conditions. The produced is collected and used as a fuel.

Recycling

Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) Paper, Glass, metals, plastics, textiles and waste electrical equipment are recovered from the waste stream and reprocessed to make secondary materials.

The conclusions from this report were very detailed but some of the key findings that are relevent to Redbridge were as follows:- “The study has shown that overall, source segregation of MSW followed by recycling (for paper, metals, textiles and plastics) and composting /AD (for putrescible ) gives the lowest net flux of greenhouse gases, compared with other options for the treatment of bulk MSW The study has also evaluated the treatment of contaminated putrescible waste using MBT, which may be appropriate if such waste cannot be obtained at high enough quality for composting with the aim of using the compost as a soil conditioner. MBT performed almost as well as AD with CHP in terms of net greenhouse gas flux from putrescible waste For mainstream options for dealing with bulk MSW as pre-treatment for landfill, the option producing the lowest greenhouse gas flux (a negative flux of some 340 kg CO2 eq/tonne MSW) is MBT (including metals recovery for recycling) with landfilling of the rejects and stabilised compost. MBT with incineration of rejects (energy recovered as electricity) gives a smaller net negative flux of about 230 kg CO2 eq/tonne.” Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is legally defined as a Authority (WCA). A WCA is a local authority in the UK charged with the collection of municipal waste. A Waste Collection Authority passes their waste onto their (WDA) who is then legally responsible for the treatment and disposal of that waste. Redbridge’s Waste Disposal Authority is the East London Waste Authority (ELWA). The East London Waste Authority was established on 1 April 1986 as a joint arrangement under part II of the Local Government Act 1985. The London Boroughs of Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Newham and Redbridge are the constitutional members of the Authority. The function of the ELWA is to transport and dispose of waste collected in each of the four boroughs. ELWA is in contract with Renewi UK Services Ltd (formally Shanks) for the disposal and treatment of all its waste arisings (including recyclates) until 2027.

The Renewi Contract ELWA is in contract with Renewi UK Services Ltd for the disposal and treatment of all its waste arisings (including recyclates) until 2027. The 2002 Renewi contract was ground-breaking when it was awarded. The contract is primarily based on Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) but does have a working Material Recovery Facility to sort recyclates. Redbridge’s waste is delivered to the Jenkins Lane BioMRF. (The Mechanical Biological Treatment process was deemed by the European Commissions report mentioned above to be one of the better least environmentally damaging MSW processes.)

The original contract KPIs were based around to support the 1999 European Landfill Directive and not the more modern KPIs of Recycling Percentage Performance. For every tonne that is delivered to Renewi only 0.02% is sent to Landfill – 99.98% of all of the four boroughs waste arisings is diverted from landfill. This percentage of landfill diversion is higher than most Authorities in the UK. However the processing cost per tonne of the contract is extremely high. The contract performs very well against its original specification, however it limits the opportunity to collect additional streams at the kerbside because additional collection costs would not be off-set by decreased disposal costs and/or recyclate income as more modern disposal contracts could offer. The cost per tonne for residual disposal and recyclate disposal will be the same until 2027 so any future service change must ensure the Authority recycles more but does not increase the overall cost of the services the Authority provides. Contract Renewal ELWA will be presenting at the climate panel on the 11th March. They will present on current waste disposal arrangements and how they are developing the future Waste Disposal Strategy. One of the key priorities already identified for the future Waste Disposal Strategy is climate impact.

Recycling Performance The current national recycling target is 50%. The European Commission’s Circular Economy Package further extends this target to 55% by 2025 and 65% by 2035 for all households and businesses. The London Mayor’s Environmental Strategy brings the deadline for 65% forward to 2030. As part of the Our Streets Strategy published in 2016 the Council has identified a recycling rate target of 50% as its aspiration. Redbridge’s current recycling percentage is 26.7% with the 4th highest residual (non- recycling) kg/household per annum in the .

Although Redbridge’s waste is diverted from landfill we are not currently performing strongly against the top tiers of the - reduce., and recycle. Renewi’s contractual KPI target for recycling low because as mentioned above the KPI for the contract was historically set at landfill diversion. The Renewi material recycling facilities facilities are now quite old and would require substantial investment in order to increase the range of recyclates that Renewi could accept. The Deputy Mayor of London has recently met with Renewi to encourage Reweni to increase the recycling performance on East London’s behalf.

World Recycling markets in crisis The market for recyclate material has always been global. Since the introduction of kerbside household recycling in the 1980s recycling has been promoted as the environmental answer to the growing amount of rubbish the world produces. This global market has developed into a $200bn industry. But in 2018 the industry changed dramatically. On December 31 2017 China, previously the centre of the global recycling trade, abruptly shut its doors in imports of recycling material citing the fact that they wanted to become a circular economy and use their own waste emissions rather than importing dirty products from elsewhere. The prices of plastic collapsed as did the price of low grade paper. The global recyclate market was in crisis and the situation is still ongoing. The market is adjusting slowly but the prices paid have fallen dramatically and therefore reprocessors are cautious and very risk averse to investing in infrastructure whilst they wait for the markets to stabilise.

This market crisis is effecting all recyclate streams but most damagingly to the environment is the price fall of single use plastics - pots, tubs and trays. Whilst plastic bottle prices remain buoyant single use plastic prices have tumbled and many reprocessors are stating that they are now non-economically viable to reprocess.

Redbridge’s 2019 Waste Reduction Strategy In order to respond to the Authorities aspiration to reduce the amount of refuse we collect and increase our recycling performance Redbridge consulted with our residents in 2018 and from this consultation developed a Waste Reduction Strategy. As part of this strategy we are currently piloting wheelie bins in the borough. https://engagement.redbridge.gov.uk/civic-pride/waste-and-recycling-survey/ The range of recyclates we collect is limited by the Renewi contract. ELWA is in discussions with Renewi around how they can expand the range of materials they can accept. (See Defra 2023 below)

Wheelie Bin Pilot

To date Redbridge has had no limit to the amount of refuse that it will collect from an individual household and as a result the Authority currently produces one of the highest level of average refuse kg per household in the Country. The delivery of a wheelie bin to each household in the pilot area and the implementation of a ‘no extra rubbish rule’ will for the first time restrict or cap each household to a defined literage that they are able to present for collection each week. The constriction on the amount of rubbish that a household can present means that to make waste fit into the wheelie bin households have to separate out their recycling. There are properties that do not present recycling at all and some households present small amounts of recycling but recycling materials are still clearly visible in their black sacks. The introduction of wheelie bins pushes these households into maximising their recycling and therefore increases the overall tonnages of recycling collected across the borough.

For households that already responsibly recycle there will be little impact on the amount of recycling that they present until we see the expansion of what our reprocessor (Renewi) can accept. We are undertaking the pilot scheme in order to measure the reduction in refuse that results and the associated increase in recycling to ensure that the constriction/cap we are suggesting is enough to be effective borough wide. If a high enough tonnage reduction is achieved then wheelie bins will be rolled out borough wide. Preliminary tonnage data does show a reduction against last year tonnages for the same period however the trial is still very juvenile and tonnage data is still being analysed. Update on Recycling Working Group 2012 Recommendations In 2012 a Recycling Working Group recommended the following actions to be taken to improve the recycling performance. Please see the resultant actions taken in italics. 1) Promote Awareness of re-use organizations

Redbridge promotes the TLC Reuse centre in Ilford and is working with ELWA to ensure that reuse Stakeholders are contacted as part of the future ELWA strategy.

2) Service improvement – i) Exploring the feasibility of bulky household waste being taken out of the refuse and recycling contract to enable a local social enterprise / third sector organisation to provide an alternative service.

All waste collected by LBR is contractually assigned to Renewi – LBR are unable to take out of the contractual arrangement with Renewi however Renewi is maximising reuse and recycling of bulky waste where possible.

ii) Aligning any new variation / contract agreement with the Government Review of Waste Policy in England 2011 (DEFRA) and the London Mayor’s Strategy (‘London’s Wasted Resource’, GLA, 2011), and to include incentives for reducing the volume of waste, whilst allowing as far as possible some flexibility for any future changes in Government policy.

This has been done for any contract that LBR has put in place however the Renewi contract cannot currently be aligned. The GLA and Defra are aware of the constraints of the Renewi contract and this has been explored and detailed as part of the 2019 Recycling and Waste Reduction Plans submitted to the GLA.

iii) Exploring the scope to maximise the recycling of .

LBR is currently in discussion with Renewi around business waste recycling.

iv) That the Council actively explores opportunities to encourage ELWA in the development of a pilot project for recycling mattresses

Renewi recycles mattresses.

v) Exploring the feasibility of developing a kerbside collection service for food waste which would require the provision of food collection facilities, wheeled bins and suitable vehicles.

All waste including food waste is contractually bound to Renewi. The cost of disposal of food waste with Renewi would be the same as residual waste. Renewi would remix any separate food waste collections back into the residual to be processed at the MBT. The cost of introducing a food waste collection would be high and apart from increasing recycling performance would currently have no environmental/climatic benefit.

vi) That a food waste collection service be piloted in a chosen area of the Borough.

Please see above.

vii) That no procurement or contractual arrangements should be entered into in the meantime which could limit the Council’s flexibility in considering its future options in this area.

Redbridge has incorporated Redbridge Civic Services Ltd (a wholy owned local authority company) in order to have flexibility in service provision in the future.

3) Mandatory recycling/use of Section 46 powers to enforce

Section 46 powers are in place and used by the Enforcement team.

4) Ongoing work with landlords and letting agents – request a report on the progress of work being done with landlords and letting agents in Area Committees 5 -7 as part of pilot project and enhance initiatives to encourage landlords and managing agents to ensure that refuse collection and recycling is understood and undertaken by all tenants.

Waste related issues are taken to the Landlords Forum and is discussed as part of the HMO licence agreement.

DEFRA – 2023 a year of change? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-sets-out-plans-to-overhaul-waste- system

In February 2019 DEFRA announce that it was set to overhaul the waste system and a series of consultations were launched to gather feedback on three waste specific initiatives:- 1) Extended producer responsibility

This consultation sought views on measures to reduce the amount of unnecessary and difficult to recycle packaging and increase the amount of packaging that can and is recycled, through reforms to the packaging producer responsibility regulations. It also proposed that the full net costs of managing are placed on those businesses who use packaging and who are best placed to influence its design. This is consistent with the polluter pays principle and the concept of extended producer responsibility. 2) Deposit return Scheme

The aim of the UK and Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland (DAERA) is to ensure that, should a DRS be introduced, it will be easy for consumers to return drinks containers, leading to increased recycling rates and a reduction in littering. Following the passage of DRS-related legislation, there will be a short period of further formal consultation on specific regulatory measures in early 2020

3) Consistency in recycling collections

This consultation is around ensuring that there is consistency around what can be recycled by each authority it includes a standard range of recycling materials (including singe use plastics and food waste)

Defra is due to publish its Environemental Bill sometime in 2020 – this was delayed due to the 2019 General Election and Brexit.

Inequality of waste - Low performing area predictors

Deprivation - a significant influencer on recycling rates “The more urban, less prosperous and more deprived an area is the lower its recycling rate is likely to be, a WRAP study has found” WRAP found that the socio-demographic and geographic make-up of a local authority was found to account for almost a quarter of the variations between different council's recycling rates

 Higher level of deprivation (percentage of social grade D&E) is associated with lower recycling rates. It is associated with lower dry yields and lower total arisings, but is not associated with a difference in residual yields.

 Increased rural nature (percentage of the population classified as “rural”) is associated with higher recycling rates, as a result of higher dry, organic and total arisings yields. These areas are also the most likely to have the poorest air quality.

The indices of Deprivations

(Please see the separate analysis of deprivation and population density for the borough) The borough’s recycling performance and therefore environmental impact is limited by its areas of deprivation and density of dwelling. These areas also often align to poor air quality and high environmental crime rates (for example fly tipping and graffiti. Density of Dwellings

Flatted properties are particularly challenging property types to build good recycling practice in and boroughs with a high proportion of flatted/communal properties find achieving high recycling percentages very difficult.

Whilst the London target for recycling is set at 65% it is understood by the GLA that this is an aggregated score across London with higher performing boroughs supporting those boroughs whose demographics and deprivation levels will struggle to reach these high performance targets Opportunities and Challenges of recycling in flatted properties. http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Opportunities%20&%20challenges%20of%20rec ycling%20for%20flats%20in%20different%20building%20types.pdf

Climate response from other Authorities that have declared an emergency:- Greenwich commitments

- 20% reduction in ‘avoidable’ food waste by 2025 - Key bio-degradable waste sent to landfill eliminated by 2025 - Increase of recycling rates to 70% by 2025 - 20% reduction in waste-water handling emissions by 2050 - Cut food and associated packaging waste by 50% by 2030. - of food waste - Consider instituting a separate food waste collection service and sourcing commercial partners to operate anaerobic digestion of the collected food waste - Produce a waste management strategy containing strict quantitative targets for reduction in total waste per person and increase of proportion sent to recycling.

Hackney decarbonisation briefing

- Reduce superfluous plastics through Sustainable Procurement Strategy – banning single-use plastics from internal and external events - Restrict black bag waste collection at street properties (whilst maintaining weekly food and recycling collections) - Pay tenants for their recycling – reverse vending on an estate - Low Plastics Zone - Object lending library to reduce waste

Richmond

- Becoming single use plastic free in operations and will work with residents, businesses and schools to reduce consumption of single use plastics o Work towards achieving Single Use Plastic free accreditation for the Borough - Promote circular economy in Council operations o “In the context of a circular economy, reducing and recycling waste should become less important as waste is designed out of the system. In the shorter-term, it will continue to be important for residents and businesses to reduce their waste and recycle as much of it as possible. Tackling behaviour change is essential to shifting the way we as a society consume products and the demand consumers place on producers and retailers. The Council’s role in this process is to help ‘close the loop’ of product lifecycles through waste prevention, and greater recycling and re-use. by applying the Waste Hierarchy. Procurement will play an important role in developing and promoting a Circular Economy, with a greater emphasis required on minimising

the environmental impact from resource use including procurement and supply chain, use and lifecycle and end of life management. Taking these approaches should ultimately deliver improved cost management.” o Targets . Decrease amounts of total waste per household (tonnes) . Increase the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting . Achieve ‘Plastic free’ accreditation from Surfers against . Increase domestic food waste recycled as percent of total household waste - Installing uniform duo bins that are strategically placed in buildings - Address barriers to recycling in parks – improved bin location and signage for bins across the parks - Establish an officer working group to undertake an audit of the Council’s single use plastics items and packaging to establish baseline of single use plastics consumption and identify actions to take. Our actions will form a 3 step approach: o Prevention: o Disposal/recycling o Replacement - Report provides a list of recommendations residents and partners at home and at work - Currently undertaking the following trials o A food waste collection trial involving approximately 1800 properties in the borough. o Commercial food waste collection service o Sack option for comingling of waste o Saturday recycling collection o Sack option for mixed commercial container recycling o Capacity of public recycling sites o New contract for textile collections o Responsible participation of schools and educational establishments o Future options for operation of the

Bristol City

- published Towards a Bristol: Waste and Resource Management Strategy in April 201636. This affirms the waste hierarchy and a long-term ambition to be a ‘zero waste’ city. In the shorter term it commits to quantitative targets including the reduction of residual household waste per person to below 150kg per year by 2025. This would be the lowest amount of any UK Core city.

The Scoping Report Commitments Within the scoping reportfor the Climate Panel was the following commitment:- “Reduce the emissions associated with waste collection and disposal by encouraging more reuse, minimising waste and increasing opportunities for recycling”

Initial Scoping of Waste related initiatives to support this initiative are as follows:- Short-

Cost & term or CO2 Policy Progress Resource long- Impact term To Achieve Carbon Neutral Expand recycling offering, rates and Low Long- Low waste management in all Authority term buildings Removal of single use plastics from Low Short- Low buildings term Offer paperless bills Low Short- Low term Purchase recycled paper Low Short- Medium term Include requirement of production of Medium Long- High biogas in procurement contracts term Utilise food waste according to the High Long- Medium food waste hierarchy term Promotion of LoveFood HateWaste compaign https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ Establish a High Long- Medium residential/commercial/industrial term food waste collection programme Zero waste to landfill or incineration High Long- Low term Consider instituting separate food High Long- Low waste collection and anaerobic term digestion Policy Levers

Greater integration of waste High Long- High management with the provision of term decentralised energy Adopt Circular economy waste High Long- Low policies in local plans, mineral plans, term waste management plans and contract Address barriers to recycling in parks Medium Medium- Low through improved bin location and term signage Evaluate current Waste Management Medium Long- Low Processes term Community Leadership Establish a community appliance Medium Medium- Low reuse programme term Establish repair/swap shops Medium Long- Low term Public Composting Spaces Low Long- Medium term Encourage zero ‘avoidable waste’ Low Long- Medium term Encourage local food production and Low Short- Low consumption of in-season/local food term Reverse vending machines to High Long- Low encourage recycling term Textile collections Medium Medium- Low term Continue to promote reusable Low Short Low nappies Term Promote uniform reuse within schools Low Short Low term Promote LoveFood HateWaste Low Short Low Compaign Term Establish an object lending library Medium Long- Low term

(The Waste Collection Fleet of vehicles will be discussed in the Fleet Panel.)