Council

Local Waste Strategy 2008-2014

About South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire is a mixed urban and rural authority of great diversity located in the South West of England and covering an area of over 53,000 hectares. The area incorporates long-established urban communities, market towns, small villages and substantial new residential developments.

South Gloucestershire has a population of approximately 270,000, 60 per cent of which lives in the built up areas adjoining . A further 19% live in the towns of Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Thornbury, with the remaining living in the more rural areas. The population of South Gloucestershire is increasing rapidly, having grown by over 20 per cent in the last 20 years, with an anticipated growth of an additional 7,000 households by 2011.

South Gloucestershire is a Unitary Authority, meaning it has responsibility for providing a wide range of services to approximately 107,000 households, including the collection and disposal of municipal waste

South Gloucestershire

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South Gloucestershire Council

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(To be reviewed in 2011)

Vision South Gloucestershire’s long- term goal is a cost effective, sustainable, fully integrated waste management system for its residents

Introduction and purpose

The Council has an excellent record in waste management, has an ambitious programme to substantially reduce household waste going to landfill in the most cost effective and environmentally sustainable way.

This strategy sets out the Council’s Waste Management priorities over the next few years with a view to meeting EU, Government and local targets.

The strategy concentrates on Municipal Waste, South Gloucestershire’s main waste responsibility, and makes the links with regional and sub-regional strategies which address all major waste streams including commercial and industrial waste.

Municipal Waste includes household waste and any other wastes collected by a Waste Collection Authority. This included public parks and gardens waste, and waste resulting from the clearance of fly-tipped materials.

Household Waste includes:- . Waste collection rounds . Street cleansing and litter collection . Bulky waste collections . Charity waste . Hazardous household waste collections . Household clinical waste collections . Garden waste collections . Drop off/ bring systems . Waste delivered to SORT IT!* Centres and . Any other household waste collected by the Council.

In July 2000 South Gloucestershire signed an ambitious 25 year contract in partnership with SITA (South Gloucestershire) Ltd. to modernise and improve waste collection and disposal services. These services were procured through the Government’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

The Council is now working in partnership with SITA to improve services, still further to achieve a minimum 50% recycling/composting rate in 2010/11, ten years ahead of national targets. The Council will complement this strategy by working in partnership through the West of England Partnership. The partnership is seeking to deliver a strategy to provide alternative waste disposal solutions to landfill. Together these strategies will ensure the Council meets the National Waste Strategy targets well ahead of national target dates. Page 2 of 23

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A. Environmental Impact of Waste Figure 1 The Waste Hierarchy

The Government's waste strategy aims to change the way waste is managed. It seeks to break the link between economic growth and waste production

The aim is to drive waste management up the waste hierarchy from disposal to waste prevention (Figure 1)

B. Waste Strategy for England 2007

Figure E1 below is taken directly from the Governments latest waste strategy and summarises the Governments plans and targets in reducing waste production and its effect on climate change. The Government’s main aims are to reduce waste by making sure products take up fewer natural resources and to break the link between economic growth and waste growth

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For local authorities with responsibility for collection and disposal of waste this means an emphasis and diverting as much waste from landfill as possible by providing good waste recycling and recovery services with a target of household waste recycling of 50% by 2020

C. South-West Regional Waste Strategy

In October 2004, the South-West Regional Assembly published “From Rubbish to Resource – A Regional Waste Strategy for the South West 2004-2020. This strategy sets out in detail the regional approach that should be adopted to manage the region’s waste, in particular the diversion of biodegradable waste from landfill to meet targets set for each authority by Central Government. It also feeds into the South West Spatial Strategy which is currently being developed.

One of the challenges set out in the regional strategy is for regional and sub-regional self sufficiency in terms of waste management facilities. Waste Planning Authorities have been allocated indicative waste treatment capacity targets resulting in a need to identify sites for treatment facilities within a reasonable distance of the source of the waste. Page 4 of 23

The West of England Partnership One of the challenges set out in the regional strategy is for Waste Planning Authorities to find sites for treatment facilities within a reasonable distance of the source of the waste based on indicative capacity requirements for the sub-region.

The four unitary authorities of Bath and North-East Somerset, Bristol, and South Gloucestershire (known collectively as the West of England sub region) are working in partnership to deliver treatment and disposal capacity to meet the long terms needs of the area. Each authority will continue to deliver its own strategy for services and facilities to maximise recycling and composting. However individual council waste strategies will not enable any authority to meet its own biodegradable waste diversion targets.

There are significant economic benefits and efficiencies to be gained by a joint approach. The four authorities are now working together to finalise a Joint Municipal Waste Strategy which will focus on residual waste treatment and disposal. This in turn will lead to procurement of one or more treatment facilities.

In parallel the authorities are also working on a Development Plan Document which will identify suitable sites for locating treatment facilities in order to meet the waste treatment capacity requirements of the West of England area

D. Council Policy

South Gloucestershire’s Community Strategy – ‘Our Area Our Future’ is a strategic framework within which individuals and organisations can work together to improve the quality of life in South Gloucestershire. The strategy commits to cut consumption of resources, prevent pollution and waste and live within environmental limits.

The Council Plan 2008 -11 sets out ambitious priorities to support the Community Strategy with priority (24) to:

 Produce and implement a waste strategy that will increase the amount of household waste that is recovered, and recycle or compost half of the total collected to reduce the amount of household waste that goes to landfill.

The Environmental Sustainability theme of the Local Area Agreement Framework aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage the impacts of climate change. Disposal of waste is a key issue for this theme. Biodegradable waste such as food, paper and wood deposited in landfill degrades to produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

E. Financial Incentives

1) The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS)

Until recently over 90% of household waste has been landfilled compared to a typical rate in Europe of 50% or less.

This has been recognised by the European Union, and has resulted in the creation of The Landfill Directive (1999), which sets ambitious

Page 5 of 23 targets for the reduction Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) sent to landfill sites.

. Biodegradable materials e.g. paper, food and garden waste,, over time, break down in landfill sites creating greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, (methane is a “greenhouse gas” 21 times as harmful as carbon dioxide)

All Councils are now faced with extremely challenging annually decreasing allowances for disposing of biodegradable waste to landfill, to meet the UK’s obligations under the Landfill Directive. The table below shows the annual landfill allowances for South Gloucestershire

Tonnes Allocated Landfill Allowance for South Gloucestershire 90,000 80,000 81,215

70,000 69,996 Current level of Landfill 60,000 52,366 50,000

40,000 40,708 Allocated Landfill Allowance 33,383 30,391 30,000 24,406 20,000

10,000

0 05/06 07/08 09/10 11/12 13/14 15/16 19/20 Year

Every tonne of biodegradable waste going to landfill above the Council’s allowance will require the Council to either purchase a LATs credit at the then going rate or incur a penalty of £150 per tonne.

In 2007/8 the Council disposed of an estimated 62,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste to landfill. This strategy aims to reduce waste disposed in landfill to 56,300 tonnes in 2009/10.

Achieving this aim will go a long way towards meeting the Council’s diversion from landfill targets. In order to meet the full obligations, the Council is working within the West of England Partnership to produce a joint waste strategy which seeks to deliver alterative technologies to landfill for the processing of residual waste.

2) The Landfill Tax Escalator

In addition to the implications of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme every tonne of waste that is landfilled is subject to a Landfill Tax. This is a key financial incentive to discourage the use of landfill as a waste disposal option and to encourage recycling and reuse and alternative disposal technologies. In 2008/9 Landfill tax is £32 per tonne, and will rise by £8 per tonne per year to £48 in 2010/11.

Page 6 of 23 Audited figures show that the Council disposed of 84,000 tonnes of waste to landfill in 2006/7. If this remained constant the cost of landfill tax would be £4m in 20010/11. There is therefore a clear incentive to reduce the amount generated, reduce waste going to landfill and encourage more recycling and composting.

3) Incentives for Households to Minimise Waste and Increase Recycling

The Government has consulted local authorities on financial incentives for households to reduce waste and increase recycling. The Government’s preferred model, a cost neutral incentive scheme as opposed to the local authorities favoured ‘polluter pays’ scheme i.e. a direct payment for the waste produced, was not well received.

The Government plans to provide a power for local authorities, outlined in its Climate Change Bill, October 2007, to pilot incentives for household waste minimisation and recycling. At the time of writing it is unclear within what framework the schemes would run. The Council will examine future developments and explore amendments to this strategy should they prove viable.

F. Legislation

The implementation of the Landfill Directive has coincided with a raft of legislative changes that impact on waste management. Of particular note are:-

 The Waste and Emissions Trading Act (2003), which sets out how England will meet its obligations under the EU landfill Directive  The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) 2005, which allocates landfill allowance to each Waste Disposal Authority  The Animal Bi-products Regulations (20030, which sets standards and processes for composting animal bi-products including importantly kitchen waste  The WEEE Regulations (2007), which requires segregation and recycling/processing of waste electrical and electronic goods to meet EU targets  The Forthcoming EU Batteries Directive

This strategy has taken these changes into consideration.

G. Local Issues

1. Demographic growth

From 1991 and 2001 census figures, the number of properties within South Gloucestershire is steadily growing and the number of households is increasing due to a steady drop in the size of each household from 2.6 people in 1991 to 2.5 people in 2001 and 2.4 people in 2006 (projected from census data).

Any large scale increase in the number of properties by the possible major developments proposed by the Government will mean the Council will struggle to meet its Landfill Allowance targets as there has been no allowance for growth within the scheme.

Approaches to the Government regarding the impact of such growth on fixed landfill allowances have to date only been met with vague comments of possible account being taken. There have been no positive variations in Landfill Allowances

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2. Public Opinion and Customer Services

Constant surveys inform the Council that there is strong public opinion the Council should recycle plastic bottles.

National press coverage has emphasised the apparent health hazards created by food waste recovered only every two weeks. During protracted periods of hot weather a few residents still have problems with maggots and smells.

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1. Recycling/ Composting Rates

The audited figures for 2006/7, show that South Gloucestershire recycled or recovered 39.54% of household waste (up from 37.4% on the previous year). This reflect significant year on year improvement since the waste PFI contract commenced in 2000.

Recycling/Composting rates for South Gloucestershire 2000 - 2007

% Diversion 45% 39.94% 40% Effect of Segregating Waste 35% 30% Effect of Segregating Waste 25% compost 20% recycling 15% 10% 5% 0% 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 Year

This improvement is shown with audited comparisons for 2006/7 showing that the Council was in the top quartile and 5th best out of 80 Unitary Authorities for recycling/composting household waste.

The big increase in the recycling and composting rate has been brought about by:-

 Providing a fortnightly multi-material recycling collection service to 99% of household in the area, collecting glass, paper, cans, textiles, tin foil, engine oil and car batteries; together with the provision of a green storage box.

 Roll out of the new “SORT IT!*” collection service, with alternating green bin (garden waste and cardboard) and black bin (residual waste) collections, combined with the fortnightly recycling box collections.

 Ensuring strict adherence to the policy of not collecting extra bags of waste placed beside black bins (side waste)

 Ensuring strict enforcement of the lids down policy on the green and black bins.

 Making collections on all Bank Holidays except Christmas and New Year to minimise disruption to residents.

 Enhancement and extension of recycling bring bank sites in community, pub and supermarket car parks. The number of bring banks sites were increased from 67 to 79 and the range of materials collected was extended to collect glass, newspaper, mixed cans, plastic bottles and textiles where the site allowed. Page 9 of 23

 Significant improvements to segregation of material for recycling at SORT IT!* Centres and the introduction and widespread use of the SORT IT!* brand.

 Provision of new facilities - depots and transfer stations for receipt and storage of recyclables and waste and for staff and vehicles

2. Participation rates A recent survey showed that 83% of South Gloucestershire households participated in recycling at least 2 materials at kerbside. This is a high rate of participation.

3. Capture Rates A household waste analysis carried out in October 2006 shows the following:-

The Council could target the recovery Biodegradable Waste in the Black Bin of kitchen waste, paper and Materials Tonnes/yr % by weight cardboard. These are all prized Newspaper & pamphlets 790 1.44% recyclable materials due to their biodegradability and weight. Recyclable paper 1,956 3.57%

Recyclable cardboard 1,227 2.24% There is no excuse for residents Catalogues & directories 783 1.43% placing garden waste in the black Textiles (50%) 1192 2.18% bin. IVC kitchen waste 21,105 38.60% Without some enforcement this Non-IVC kitchen waste 307 0.56% practice could increase as more Garden waste 1,506 2.75% recyclables are taken out of the black TOTAL 28,866 53.00% bin leaving bigger voids to fill.

The Council already provides Non-Biodegradable Recyclable Waste In The Black kerbside collection services for all of Bin these materials. Material Tonnes/yr % by weight Glass 1,132 2.06% There is therefore a clear message Cans 516 0.94% that we need to educate and Aerosols 195 0.36% promote to increase participation Foil 209 0.38% and capture rates. Textiles (50%) 1,192 2.18% Dense plastic 2,104 3.84% Target materials are glass, textiles Car batteries 63 0.11% cans/aerosols for reuse and weight Household batteries 71 0.13% value. Plastic bottles could also be Electrical 370 0.67% collected because of public demand TOTAL 5,852 10.67%

A subsequent waste analysis in October 2007 showed very much the same picture

4. Recycling/ Recovery at our SORT IT* Centres The Scope for Industrial and Commercial Recycling Currently over 23% of all our household waste goes  through our SORT IT!* Centres so it is an important source of household waste In 2006/7 32,292 tonnes of household waste (plus 10,333 tonnes of rubble) were handled at our Sort It!* Centres.

Page 10 of 23 12,052 tonnes of household waste handled at our SORT IT!* Centres was recycled/recovered. The amount recycled has risen from 17% in 2000/01 to over 50% in 2006/07. However there is still scope to improve the overall household recycling rates at our SORT IT!* Centres

Previous surveys and simple observations have shown that there is still a lot of biodegradable waste such as paper, cardboard and textiles not being recovered. Non biodegradables such as glass, metal and cans are also found in the residual waste stream.

Table 3 below shows comparisons between and the Council’s civic amenity sites. It can be seen that South Gloucestershire handles more than twice the amount of CA waste per head of population compared with Bristol.

Table 3 Municipal Recovery Rate Both Bristol City Council and S Glos. Bristol BANES have restrictions at their Population 248,100 398,300 civic amenity sites. South Gloucestershire’s restrictions are No sites 4 2 limited to periodic initiatives. Ave pop per site 62,025 199,150 Recycled 9,005 7,664 In comparison with the three other Composted 3,047 3,509 sub regional authorities, Bristol City Rubble 10,333 6,064 Council processes 23% of the total Total Recovery 22,385 17,237 civic amenity household waste and has 39% of the population, South Disposed 20,240 13,889 Gloucestershire processes 34% of Total waste 42,625 31,126 the total civic amenity household waste and has 24% of the Total waste tonnes per population. A conclusion is that the 1000 population 172 78 Council is taking a lot of Bristol’s civic amenity waste

The reduction in cross boundary tipping and trade abuse at the SORT IT!* Centres is an important waste reduction measure as it will reduce the amount of waste generated per household.

A 3% or 1,000 tonnes increase in the waste that is recycled, recovered or prevented at our SORT IT!* Centres equates to a 0.73%` increase in our BVPI household recycling rate

5. Stoke Gifford SORT IT!* Centre

Due to health and safety reasons, the amount of traffic on Stoke Gifford SORT IT!* Centre has had to be reduced. A height barrier was installed in October 2006 and a trailer ban put in place, restricting the use of the site to most passenger vehicles

A Replacement SORT IT!* Centre for Stoke Gifford is much needed to provide an appropriate service to the local population The search for a suitable site continues.

Page 11 of 23 6. Recycling/ Recovery at our Bring Sites

The Council currently operate 79 bring sites through which 2,314 tonnes of household waste was collected and recycled in 2006/7. This amounted to 1.69% of our household recycling rate. 1,696 tonnes were glass and paper which amounts to1.23% of our household recycling rate.

All the materials, apart from plastic bottles, are collected at kerbside and it appears that a lot of the paper and glass waste is commercially derived, being generated by the premises on which the sites are situated e.g. public houses.

The Council provides an excellent kerbside collection service so this may be the most appropriate time to rationalise the number, and what we do at our bring sites.

Rationalising sites away from commercial premises is likely to reduce tonnages and therefore the waste generated per household in South Gloucestershire.

7. Plastic Bottle Recycling

By popular demand the number of plastic bottle bank sites has increased from the original 11 in 2006 to 22 in November 2007.

The tonnage collected has increased from a total of 26.8 tonnes per month in 2006/7 to 29.3 tonnes per month between April and October 2007. However the full effect of the increased capacity will not be known until 2008/9.

The Recresco suction collection system (pictured) allows the use of much smaller sites, including rural areas. This is a cost effective alternative to kerbside collection, which would be much more expensive.

8. Home composting

Green and food waste can be beneficially processed at home so that it doesn’t enter the household waste stream.

As part of the contract SITA had to ensure that 45% of homes with gardens were home composting by April 2003. During 2002 SITA provided free compost bins to selected properties with gardens and actively promoted home composting. Since then SITA has reverted back to charging for home compost bins at cost price. In 2005/6 SITA issued 305 home compost bins. In 2006/7 694 were issued following a short promotion campaign.

A survey of 4,200 residents in 2004 showed that around 79% of 1,187 respondents were still using their compost bins

Page 12 of 23 From April 2008 the Council has been accepted onto the Waste Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) for Home Composting. WRAP runs a supported home composting scheme, which South Gloucestershire Council in partnership with SITA has joined to boost uptake from householders.

The Council is providing free home compost bins within the scheme for the first year of the programme.

9. Community composting

The ethos of community composting is one of small scale composting facilities run on a day-to-day basis by dedicated community based groups. The sites produce quality compost and wood chippings which are made available for sale at a nominal cost. The material processed makes a small contribution to recycling rates and landfill diversion

There are currently 4 community composting sites located at Thornbury, Patchway, Hawkesbury Upton and Shireway, Yate together with 2 composting sites, processing green waste from Street Care activities such as grass cutting. In 2006/7 1,600 tonnes of green waste were processed.

The scheme currently run by Resource Futures was substantially funded up to January 2008 by a community grant and support funding from the Council. The short fall in grant put the community composting project at risk however the Council has now allocated revenue funding to ensure the programme continues.

Promoting and facilitating home and community composting is an extremely powerful waste minimisation message.

10. Promotion, Education and Waste Minimisation

SITA’s Waste Minimisation Team, supported by the Council’s Client Unit, works to an agreed waste minimisation action plan or Road Map, which identifies key activities and dates. The Road Map is monitored and regularly reviewed to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

The programme includes visits, road shows, newsletters, bringing alternating collections to difficult properties, working closely with The University of The West of England, slim your bin, yellow pages and other campaigns and education programmes in primary schools.

Table 4 below shows the Kilograms of waste produced per head of population over the last few years. This has grown to 553Kg per household, which is a 10% increase over the period.

The 2 major contributors to this increase are the switch to alternating collections which has increased the amount of compostable material collected and a large increase in the amount of waste processed through our SORT IT!* Centres.

Page 13 of 23 To reduce the amount of compostable material collected we need to promote the use of home composting as an alternative to the use of the green bin and SORT IT!* Centres for garden waste disposal.

Table 5 below shows that in terms of waste produced per head we are above average compared to our 10 Nearest Neighbour Unitary Authorities (See Table 5 below) and are in the bottom quartile for all Unitary Authorities.

One of the major influences on these figures is whether or not an authority collects garden waste. The other major initiative to reduce the waste produced per head of population is the restriction of cross boundary and trade waste at our SORT IT!* Centres already described in 4 above.

Table 4 Kilograms of waste produced per head in South Gloucestershire

560 553 550 Large increase in SORT IT!* Centres tonnages 540 537 Alternating weekly Collections 533 530 523 521 520

510 505

500

490

480 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/0 2005/06 2006/07 Year 5

Table 5 Kilograms Per Head of Population (BVPI84a) 2006/07 (Provisional)

600 574 584 575 555 553 555 535 531 539 518 500 473 476

400

300 Kg PerHead 200

100

0

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11. Enforcement

Currently sections 46/7 of the Environmental PA 1990 allow councils to specify what refuse receptacles must be used, where they should be placed and what must go in them. The maximum fine for non-compliance is up to £1,000. Councils have been very reluctant to use these powers. However, the Cleaner Neighbourhoods Act 2005 introduced a Fixed Penalty Notice scheme as a flexible alternative to prosecution. Cabinet decided earlier this year that the Fixed Penalty Notice charge relating to non- compliance of a waste receptacle notice is £110 reducing to £60 for payment on the spot.

The alternating collection service has matured into a service that the majority of householders understand and participate in. However abuse of the service does occur. Our education and enforcement arrangement will go some way to addressing this issue.

12. Bulky Waste

At the start of the SORT IT!* contract in July 2000, bulky waste collection visits for 3 items or less were anticipated to run at the pre-contract level of around 11,000 a year, (equivalent to 15,000 for the current population). However the number of visits rose to around 30,000 by 2005/06 and SITA has been seeking reduced demand or increased payments to cover the additional work.

In May 2006 the £15 charge for second and subsequent visits was introduced, with 2 free collections each year for those on income support. It was hoped that this new charge would reduce demand to satisfactory levels

The chart below compares the number of bulky waste visits for 2005/6 and for 2006/7 (the first year of charging £15 for second and subsequent bulky waste collection visits)

Bulky Collection Visits 2005/6 and 2006/7 Monthly Accumulation vs Target

2005/6 2006/7 Target

30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

Accumulated no. of Collections Accumulated 5000

0 July May April June March August January October February November December September

Despite the new charge SITA carried out 6,781 more visits than the contract target, which would cost around £85,000.

Page 15 of 23 13. Fly Tipping

There is an expectation in The National Waste Strategy for England 2007 that in return for powers to charge for waste, councils will have to have in place a fly tipping strategy.

The Council has recently developed a coherent meaningful fly tipping strategy which will shortly be implemented. A successful fly tipping strategy requires the Environment Agency and different sections of the Council to work closely together

14. In Vessel Composter (IVC).

The Council is exploring all possible land options to ensure that an in vessel composting facility is built to process 30,000 tonnes of cardboard, garden and kitchen waste so that it may be returned to the land as a soil conditioner/compost.

Once it is fully operational, residents will be able to put their own kitchen waste into the green bin for composting.

15. The Cost of the Service

In 2005/06 the total cost of providing waste management services amounted to £10.2 million. This equates to just under £2 per week for each household. Our costs are below average for Unitary Authorities.

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There are 4 main challenges facing South Gloucestershire

Maximise the amount of waste being collected and processed

Reduce the amount of waste going to landfill

Increasing the amount of waste recycled and composted

Improve customer satisfaction

To address these challenges the Councils aims are;

To provide an education, promotion and enforcement programme, and

To provide residents with service developments and new opportunities to recycle and compost

To invest resources wisely to represent good value for money for Council Tax payers

To recycle/compost at least 50% of all household waste by 2011

The best options to meet the Council’s aims are considered to be, in priority order:-

1. Provide a weekly food and fortnightly refuse collection service, which is fully functional by April 2009.

The cost of the service is approximately £1.5M (£1.1M net of landfill tax savings) per annum

Targets  To aim to have a comprehensive service in 2009  To divert 13,500 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill each year.  To increase the household recycling rate by 9.5%

2. Improve recycling /recovery rates and reduce trade abuse and cross boundary tipping at Our SORT IT!* Centres

Reducing trade abuse and cross boundary tipping need to be addressed to reduce the volumes of waste being processed.

A project group is currently looking at all the issues with a view to achieving an increase in recycling/ recovery or a decrease in waste produced, improved customer satisfaction and reduced cross boundary and trade use.

The cost of restricting trade and cross boundary tipping will be covered by a reduction in tonnages requiring processing and disposal. Page 17 of 23

Targets  To have effective trade and cross boundary restrictions to be completely operational in the current financial year.  To achieve a 3,000 tonne reduction in waste going through our SORT IT!* Centres by April 2009.

3. Invest in an agreed, improved and focused education/promotion/enforcement programme based on best practice

1. The programme will promote and encourage public understanding of the need and opportunities to minimise waste and recycle through a series of targeted campaigns.

2. An accompanying enforcement strategy will seek to minimise contamination of bin content and increase participation in recycling. Enforcement will be incremental and the Council will only issue fixed penalty notices to the most persistent offenders.

3. Closely aligned with the enforcement strategy will be the implementation of the new, robust Fly Tipping Strategy, which prioritises the effective reduction of fly tipping in South Gloucestershire.

4. The cost is £150,000 (£88,000 net after landfill tax savings) for the first year, £300,000 per annum (net £238,000) for the subsequent 2 years and thereafter £150,000 (£88,000 net) per annum.

Targets  To increase the recycling participation rate from 83% to 90% by 2010/11  To implement the Fly Tipping Strategy in June 2008.  To reduce waste to landfill by 2,800 tonnes each year  To increase the household recycling rate by 2% by 2011.

4. Support the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) home composting scheme from April 2008.

The Council has now joined this scheme and there is no direct costs. The scheme promotes home composting and as such helps reduce the amount of waste requiring collection and processing.

Targets  To reduce waste to landfill by 220 tonnes per year based on 1,000 new users a year  To increase the household recycling rate by 0.16% by 2011

5. Rationalise the number and activity on our bring sites

SITA currently services 79 bring sites in South Gloucestershire. The majority of these are glass bottle and paper recycling banks and many are located on commercial premises. These materials are collected at the kerbside so there is duplication of service. SITA services these bring sites under contract. Any significant reduction in bring sites may allow SITA to redeploy some resources to further support this strategy.

Target  To review the efficiency and effectiveness of our bring sites and make changes where appropriate to maximise recycling performance.

Page 18 of 23 6. Review the provision of Plastic Bottle and TetraPak Recycling Banks

The cost of providing an additional plastic bottle recycling site is around £8,500 pa depending on size and location.

Demand and use of existing plastic bottle banks is constantly changing therefore we need to ensure over a period of time that existing sites are adequately provided for.

5 TetraPak banks are provided free of charge until November 2009

The Council has identified increased funding for plastic bottle and banks building up to £51,000 in 2010/11. TetraPak banks will be kept under review.

Requests for additional plastic bottle bank sites will therefore be regularly reviewed within this context and further banks will be introduced in priority order.

Targets  To annually review the performance of the existing provision and the potential for future plastic bottle recycling sites.

7. Community Composting

The Council will continue to fund the provision of the existing community composting facilities. However the service that supports community composting will be reviewed to ensure value for money

Target  To review the community composting service and make recommendations to maximum efficiency and effectiveness in increasing composting of biodegradable waste by April 2009.

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1. Future of North Fringe SORT IT!* Centre Provision

The current SORT IT Centre at Little Stoke is the smallest of our SORT IT!* Centres and struggles to meet the needs and expectations of the local community.

Replacing it with an enhanced facility to serve this area of high housing growth is the preferred solution.

Some funding has been allocated to the project from former Defra capital grant and from within the waste contract with SITA but the total cost will depend on land values and building costs.

Identifying and securing a suitable site is proving to be challenging in the context of the development pressures in the North Fringe.

Target  To undertake a fresh review of potential sites in the North Fringe for a SORT IT Centre in 2008

Page 19 of 23

2. Bulky Waste Collections

In order to reduce demand for the collection and disposal of bulky waste items the Council will introduce a charge of £15 (including VAT) per visit for collecting up to three bulky waste items.

The action is expected to reduce the number of collection visits to within the contractual level and provide an important income stream of £153,000 (£140,000 net). The predicted net income is an important funding stream for this waste strategy. Importantly it is anticipated to reduce the volume of waste being processed thus supporting the objective of minimising waste.

Protection for those on income support would be incorporated, providing them with 2 free collections per annum.

Targets  To reduce demand to below the contract rate of 15,000 visits per year  To raise £140,000 net income to reinvest in the overall strategy

FFinancialinancial PPlanlan

The Council has provided for the cost of the strategy through

Prudent redistribution of money within the existing waste management budget,

Planning for revenue growth for waste improvements

identifiable available Government funding and

Savings in landfill tax

Page 20 of 23 SSummaryummary ooff PPotentialotential EEffectsffects ooff tthehe CCouncil’souncil’s LLocalocal WWasteaste SStrategytrategy

Proposals Affecting the Household Recycling Rate Max. Extra Proposal (* subject to additional Cost of service Total (39.54 % Recycling resources being identified) per annum base) Effect

Collect food waste weekly £1.1M net 9.5% 49.04%

Join WRAP home composting £0 0.16% 49.2% scheme

£238,000 net for 2 Educate, promote, enforce 2.0% 51.2% years then £88,000

Restrict cross boundary and trade Minimal 2.13% 53.33% waste at our SORT !T!* Centres

Continuing Community In base £55,000 53.33% Composting figure

* Annually review the 53.33% performance of existing and Approx £8,500 per potential for future plastic bottle Minimal Maximum site * recycling sites. effect

Proposals Not Directly Affecting the Recycling Rate

Proposal Cost Effect Cr £140k Charge £15 (inc VAT) for each £140K net income net bulky waste visit [potential £83K cost averted]

2 free bulky waste visits for those £0 Small loss in income on income support

Within Implement a fly tipping strategy by enforcement Robust deterrent and reduction June 2008 proposals of fly tipping incidents Review the number of, and £0 Some efficiency savings activity on, our 79 bring sites

The cost and effect of a new SORT IT!* Centre for Stoke Gifford is as yet unknown SSummaryummary AActionction PPlanlan fforor AAchievingchieving tthehe SStrategytrategy

2008/2009 . Participation in the WRAP home composting scheme

. Secure processing capacity for food waste

. Commence roll-out collection of food waste, through weekly green bin collections.

. Implement trade and cross-boundary control measures at SORT IT!* Centres.

. Implement charging scheme for bulky household waste collections.

. Develop and implement a new education/promotion

. Develop an enforcement policy and implement an enforcement programme.

. On-going awareness raising and waste minimisation activities.

. Implement a fly tipping strategy

. Procure interim treatment capacity for residual waste (in conjunction with West of England Waste Partnership) . Target 43% recycling rate

2009/2010

. Complete roll-out of weekly green bin and food waste collections.

. Carry out the on-going education/promotion/waste minimisation activities.

. Introduce enforcement scheme for non-recyclers.

. On-going home composting promotion.

. Review provision of bring banks.

. Commence procurement of long-term residual waste treatment capacity (in conjunction with West of England Waste Partnership).

Target 46% recycling rate

2010/2011

. Carry out the on-going education/promotion/waste minimisation activities.

. Provision of 4 additional plastic bottle banks. (subject to available funding)

. Consolidate on all initiatives

Target 50%+ recycling rate

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