Issue - meetings

This report provides an update on the roll-out of kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections to all households, to help achieve the City’s 50% recycling target for household waste by December 2010.           

RESOLVED: That the progress made on kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections be noted and that the proposed timetable for the city-wide expansion of the service be approved.

REASON:      To help achieve the City’s target for the recycling of household waste and meet the requirements of the Household Waste Recycling Act, in the light of the success of the pilot scheme.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the roll-out of kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections to all households, to help achieve the City’s target of recycling 50% of household waste by December 2010 and meet the requirements of the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003.

In October 2007, Members had agreed to a roll-out of recycling across households from April 2009, the details of which would be subject to the findings of a pilot project to be carried out in The Groves area.  The progress made on the development of phases 1 and 2 of this project (terraced properties and flats) was detailed in paragraphs 13 to 26 of the report.  It was reported that residents had generally had no difficulty in managing their waste in the alternate week collection period.  Participation by residents in the recycling scheme had been good, with 83% of residents of terraced properties and 99% of residents of flats classed as participating.  The recycling rate for houses was approximately 35%.

A timetable for the roll-out of kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections (AWCs) was presented in paragraph 28 of the report.  Phase 3 would upgrade to a full service those properties in The Groves currently receiving limited recycling.  The city-wide roll-out would begin in July with Phase 4, culminating in the provision of recycling to farms and isolated properties (Phase 7) in October 2010.  The ‘migration’ of all properties onto AWCs would be an ongoing process from July 2009 to December 2010.  Members indicated that it would be helpful to have details of which particular streets would be included in each phase of the roll-out, to assist them with enquiries from constituents.

With reference to the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, Members noted that the Labour amendments to the budget would not have made any difference to the timing of the roll-out, since it was a question of organisation rather than funding.  They queried the reasons for the Shadow Executive’s support for weekly collections in terraced areas and noted that they had identified no resources for this proposal.

RESOLVED: That the progress made on kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections be noted and that the proposed timetable for the city-wide expansion of the service be approved.¹

REASON:      To help achieve the City’s target for the recycling of household waste and meet the requirements of the Household Waste Recycling Act, in the light of the success of the pilot scheme.