|
Meeting: |
Executive |
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Meeting date: |
25 January 2024 |
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Report of: |
James Gilchrist, Director of Transport, Environment and Planning |
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Portfolio of: |
Executive Member (joint) for the Environment and Climate Emergency; Cllr. J Kent / Cllr. K Ravilious |
Decision Report:
Service Developments -
Waste
Subject of
Report
1. Waste Services are responsible for the collection of all household waste across the city as well as offering and operating a commercial waste service for business customers. This report focusses on the collection of household waste and sets out a number of policy changes to consider as part of the budget process. These are proposed to be implemented over the coming months and years.
2. There are a number of proposals contained within the report which broadly cover four key areas; (i) options for introducing a subscription service for garden waste collections (ii) formalisation of a waste policy (iii) bags to bins changes and (iv) round optimisation.
Benefits and Challenges
3. Garden Waste Subscription: There are a number of benefits and challenges to consider regarding the introduction of a charge for garden waste collections. It should be noted that unlike household waste and recycling collections, the collection of garden waste is not a statutory service.
Benefits:
· In economically challenging times, charging for a garden waste subscription service would secure the continuation of a much-valued service to residents.
· The income generated from the subscriptions should cover the costs of operating the garden waste service.
· Introducing a charge will mean that the garden waste service can be extended to additional properties across the city making it more equitable. The existing garden waste service is not offered to all households across the city as the operational rounds are over capacity.
· Whilst it is recognised that a subscription based service means an increased cost to residents, it is also an optional cost. Members could decide to offer a 50% discount on the subscription rate for the garden waste service for residents who are not able to afford the service it is proposed that Council Tax Support is the mechanism by which this is applied. For residents that do not wish to subscribe then there are other alternatives which are available for free disposal of garden waste (e.g. home composting and/or disposal at a household waste recycling centre).
· Composting at home helps to reduce emissions and is the most environmentally friendly way of managing garden waste.
· Introducing a charge will align City of York Council with the surrounding North Yorkshire County where all former district councils have already introduced a charge for garden waste collections.
Challenges:
· There is an increased cost to residents if a subscription service is introduced, although this is optional.
· There are costs to operating a subscription service (e.g. licence costs, ICT developments etc).
4. Waste Policy: There are numerous benefits in formally adopting a waste policy. The waste policy contains agreed policies and procedures so there is transparency and clarity for residents, officers and Council Members over what the Waste Service entails. This is essential for setting expectations and resolving complaints. There are no perceived challenges in approving this document.
5. Bags to Bins: There are many benefits in extending the number of households that have their waste collected via wheeled bins as opposed to bags (i.e. bags to bins). The project has stalled in recent years but this move will improve waste containment for a number of households across the city, reduce the opportunity for and incidence of windblown litter. An increase in recycling should be expected due to the containment capacity of a wheeled bin for general waste. Lastly, it will lead to reduced manual handling and lifting for waste collections crews.
6. Route Optimisation: Undertaking a route optimisation exercise is critical to the ongoing running of the service. As the city continues to grow, a review of operational waste collection rounds is required to ensure they remain reliable and efficient. Undertaking a round optimisation exercise will allow the Council to better plan its collection rounds and provide greater resilience in service delivery. The change will enable a slight reduction in vehicle miles travelled with the benefit to the environment of reduced miles. Importantly, the essential miles travelled can be accounted for and justified. It will also allow other services (e.g. street cleansing, grass cutting etc) to be planned around waste collections. Notably, it will address the imbalance of existing rounds which should reduce the incidence of non collection.
Policy Basis for Decision
7. Proposals contained within this report will assist the Council in delivering a number of core commitments in the Council Plan:-
· Equalities and Human Rights - Equality of opportunity – At this current time the garden waste service is not available to all households and the fact that some properties remain on a bagged waste service means we cannot provide garden waste collections to these properties.
· Affordability – Whilst imposing a charge for garden waste collections may have some negative impacts for those on a low income there are environmentally friendly, cost effective and free alternatives to subscribing to a garden waste collection service such as home composting and/or disposal at a household waste recycling centre. Members could decide to offer a 50% discount on the subscription rate for the garden waste service for residents who are not able to afford the service it is proposed to use Council Tax Support as the way of assessing this.
· Climate - Environment and the climate emergency – Reducing the mileage and making the service more efficient through optimising collection routes and rounds will have benefits for the environment and carbon and other emissions will be reduced. By focussing collections in an area of the city will enable a review of the way public realm management and service delivery is undertaken. Reducing the number of properties on a bagged collection is expected to increase levels of recycling in those areas.
Financial Strategy Implications
8. There are a number of financial implications contained within the report. The cost of delivering the garden waste service is approximately £1.87 million per year including disposal. If a subscription service was introduced for garden waste collections, then the income derived from a subscription service would go towards offsetting the cost of delivering the service. Introducing a well administered subscription scheme would enable residents to make an informed choice about whether they subscribe to the service or not.
9. Depending on the level of take up, the Council could generate an income between £780k and £1.7 m based on an annual charge and a take up of between 25% and 55%.
10. There are administration costs associated with delivering a subscription service for garden waste collections. These include ICT cost for web and system developments and online forms, additional contact centre costs, communication costs and the provision of licences or stickers for subscribing households. The one-off costs incurred in preparing for the service to go live are forecast to be in the region of £250k which can be funded from the waste reserve and ongoing costs of operating a subscription service are assessed at £150k.
11. Given the financial pressures facing the Council, the budget report elsewhere on the agenda, is recommending that the Council introduce a charge for the garden waste service to deliver a net saving of £900k over a full financial year. This equates to a 35% take up, excluding ongoing costs. Without this decision, an alternative saving would need to be identified.
Recommendation and Reasons
12. The Executive are recommended to:
i.
Note the content of the report and agree to introduce a garden
waste subscription service at a fee of £46.50 per bin, and
instruct officers to begin work so that the Council can introduce
an annual fee for kerbside garden waste collections in York.
ii. To decide whether the Council should offer a 50% discount on the subscription rate for the garden waste service for residents who may struggle to afford the service and use Council Tax Support as a way of applying this.
Reason: To determine how the garden waste collection service will be delivered in the future
iii. To give delegated authority to the Director of Transport, Environment and Planning and in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer, to use the Waste Reserve and take all steps necessary to procure, award and enter into contracts to deliver and effectively implement the new service.
Reason: To enable resources, capital investment, and contracts to be put in place in a timely manner to ensure the garden waste subscription service can be effectively delivered.
iv. To approve, as a one-off, a free collection of garden waste bins from those households not wishing to subscribe to the garden waste collection service (it is likely residents will need to register for this collection).
Reason: This will facilitate the collection of any unwanted garden waste bins (green wheelie bins) which will be hard for residents to dispose of. The Council will make appropriate arrangements for these unwanted bins to be collected and recycled.
v. To formally adopt the Waste Policy which is included as Annex A to the report with a view to implementing the Policy from April 2024.
vi. To delegate authority to the Director of Environment Transport and Planning in consultation with the relevant Executive members to update the Waste Policy and prepare Terms and Conditions.
Reason: To ensure there is a formally adopted waste policy that is clear for waste teams, members and residents and it reflects any decisions e.g. a subscription scheme for garden waste collections.
vii. To delegate authority to the Director of Environment, Transport and Planning to transfer properties from ‘bags to bins’, implementing the scheme in affected areas.
Reason: To enable residents to benefit from waste collections via wheeled bins as opposed to bags. This will help with waste containment, reduce windblown litter, increase recycling and have health and safety benefits for collection crews.
viii. To note that the service does need to undertake a round optimisation exercise to ensure that collection rounds are efficient as the city continues to expand with additional households requiring waste collections. To delegate authority to the Director of Environment, Transport and Planning to implement an optimisation of collection rounds in consultation with the relevant Executive Members.
Reason: To ensure collection rounds are as efficient as possible and vehicle miles travelled are reduced (it should be noted that this will lead to a change of collection day for some residents at the point at which the new rounds are adopted).
ix. To note that in parts of the city, waste and recycling collections are delivered by St Nick’s under a contract for “Special Waste and Recycling Collection Arrangements for the City Centre”. This contract is due to expire and tender prices are being sought.
Reason: To ensure properties in the city centre and that are hard to access, benefit from an option to have their waste and recycling collected effectively.
x. To delegate authority to the Director of Environment, Transport and Planning, and in consultation with the Director of Governance and Chief Finance Officer, award the contract for “Special Waste and Recycling Collection Arrangements for the City Centre”.
Reason: To ensure collection rounds are as efficient as possible.
Background
13. This report has been brought to this meeting as the contents of the report will need to be considered as part of the budget setting process. There are a number of proposed service developments regarding the garden waste service, adoption of a Waste Policy and the bags to bins work that require formal decisions. In addition, this report builds on the bags to bins project which was agreed in November 2015.
14. Waste Services are responsible for the collection of domestic waste and commercial waste across the city. The ‘standard’ waste collection service offered to residents across the 91,500 households in the city is as follows:
· Household waste collected fortnightly (via a black wheeled bin or black sacks)
· Recycling waste is collected fortnightly via recycling boxes (two boxes for glass, tins/cans and plastics and one box for paper/card)
· Garden waste is collected fortnightly between March and early December each year via a green wheeled bin
· Please note that at some flats and high rise buildings there may be a limit on space, therefore collections are often in larger communal style bins (e.g. 660 or 1,100 litre bins)
· There are a small number of properties in the city centre that have their waste collections performed by St Nick’s under a contract called the “Special Waste and Recycling Collection Arrangements for the City Centre”.
Consultation Analysis
15. At September 2023 Executive it was outlined how the Council would explore the potential to introduce a green waste subscription scheme similar to the one that now covers the whole of North Yorkshire. This was in response to the Council’s serious financial position.
16.
The service has undertaken analysis of the national picture in
developing the options including a subscription service for garden
waste collections. Information is contained within the report. The
options analysis and evidential basis part of the report is broken
down into sections to enable each element of the report to be
considered.
17.
Garden Waste is a discretionary service, with alternative options
for disposal such as home composting or taking to a household waste
and recycling centre where it can be disposed of free of
charge.
Options Analysis and Evidential Basis
Garden Waste
18. The garden waste collection service in York is currently provided, free of charge, to approximately 66,000 households across the city. Collections are undertaken on a fortnightly basis across the city and residents have a green wheelie bin for garden waste collections (the majority of green bins are 180 litre bins; however, there a number of 240 litre bins in circulation across the city).
19. In recent years, the Council has not offered garden waste collections at some new housing developments (e.g. Langley Gate development) and also does not offer the service in some terraced areas, as there is not any capacity on the current operational rounds to take on these additional collections.
Current Garden Waste Collection Service
20. On 7th March 2022, the length of the garden waste collection service was extended by two weeks meaning that the garden waste collection service is provided over 40 weeks per year. Starting the garden waste collection service two weeks earlier means a more phased service introduction with garden waste tonnages gradually increasing over time.
21. Garden waste collected across York is taken to the waste disposal site at Harewood Whin (operated by Yorwaste). Garden waste is treated over a period of three months and is turned into a PAS 100 accredited compost. The compost is available to purchase at household waste recycling centres. The Council undertakes some free periodic compost giveaways (for community groups) and it is proposed that this will continue in future years.
22. The collection of garden waste contributes towards the Council’s overall recycling performance figures and any reduction in garden waste volumes will affect these. However, it is important to recognise that garden waste is only a percentage of this overall figure and that dry recycling (e.g. paper, card, glass, tins and plastics etc) accounts for a larger proportion of the waste collected across the city [(for example in 2021/22, 19,051 tonnes of dry recycling was collected across the city compared to 16,610 tonnes of garden waste) (the Council is not able to specify a tonnage for home composting)].
23. The following materials are collected in the garden waste bin; grass cuttings and hedge clippings, leaves and bark, garden plants and flowers, twigs and small branches, windfall fruit, cut flowers and house plants, Christmas trees and natural wreaths (providing they are chopped up so they fit inside the bin).
24. The following materials are not collected in the garden waste bin; soil, turf, rubble, coal, barbeque charcoal, large whole branches (these should be taken to a household waste recycling centre and placed in the wood recycling container), invasive weeds such as Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed, food or other kitchen waste, pet or animal waste and any plastic, paper, cardboard and other packaging, such as compostable plastic and bags.
25.
Garden waste can be heavy, so the service only accepts garden waste
bins where the lids are closed and asks residents do not use any
form of plastic bags, including compostable and biodegradable bags.
Soil and other heavy items are excluded.
26.
In garden waste collection areas, the service currently collects
one garden waste wheelie bin for free from households (approx
66,000 households). The service also offers the opportunity for the
collection of additional garden waste bins for those households who
subscribe to our additional garden waste scheme. Currently there
are over 1,600 households across the city who pay for an additional
bin at £43 per bin per year.
27.
Those households who are not currently served by a garden waste
collection service from the kerbside or residents who have
additional garden waste materials, can compost at home or take
garden waste to a household waste recycling centre (HWRC) free of
charge. There are two household waste recycling centres in York;
Hazel Court HWRC on James Street, York, YO10 3DS and Towthorpe HWRC
on Moor Lane, Strensall, York, YO32 9ST.
Future Garden Waste Considerations
28.
The Council has a statutory duty to collect household waste and at
least two forms of recyclable waste from the kerbside (e.g. paper/
card, glass, tins or plastics etc). There is not a statutory duty
to collect garden waste from the kerbside. Therefore, it is
appropriate to decide through the budget setting process, whether
the garden waste service is delivered free of charge to all
households or whether a subscription charge is introduced and
residents will have the option to participate in the kerbside
garden collection scheme if they so wish.
29.
The collection of garden waste is not a statutory service and under
the Controlled Waste Regulations 2012, the Council has the
discretion to charge for this service. It is also important to
point out that the Government consulted on its Waste and Resources
Strategy in 2021 and a recent Government response in November 2023,
outlined that ‘local authorities will be required to provide
a garden waste service where it is requested but as is currently
the case, they can continue to choose to charge for the
service’.
30.
However, the cost of providing the garden waste service places a
large burden of additional cost upon the authority. The £1.87m
cost of the service includes 7 vehicle rounds and associated
staffing. There will be a continued pressure on the service as the
city expands and new properties are built. A subscription service
will allow for the service to be flexed to meet this demand.
Position in Other Authorities
31.
Across the country, about 70% of local authorities now charge for
kerbside garden waste collections. Indeed, with the formation of
the new North Yorkshire Council they now charge for garden waste
collections across the County (Selby was the last of the former
district councils to introduce a charge for garden waste
collections in August 2023).
32.
As funding of local government has reduced the proportion of
authorities charging for garden waste has increased from 30% in
2012/13 to 70% today. The amounts charged for garden waste
collections vary across the country with the highest charges
generally in the South. In the North, there is a low of £25
and a high of £53 but charges are as high as £96 in the
South East. The charge for garden waste collections in North
Yorkshire Council was £43.50 in 2023 and this is increasing to
£46.50 in 2024[GJ1] . In York, we currently charge a fee
of £43 if residents want an additional bin, with the first
garden waste bin collected for free.
Garden Waste Options
33.
The first option is to continue to deliver the garden waste service
to residents free of charge. This would be a continuation of the
current service. It should be noted however that not all households
receive the garden waste collection service as the Council has not
had the resources to add garden waste collections at new build
properties over the past 12 months. It will also be possible to
further expand the garden waste subscription service in the future
to properties that switch from bags to bins (as part of the bags to
bins project).
34.
The benefit of continuing the free service is that garden waste
does not end up in the household waste bins and that the material
is composted; maximising the use and re-use of the material.
35. The disadvantage to continuing the free service is that it places a large financial burden on the authority for a service, that is not a statutory function to deliver. Difficult decisions have been made in recent years to restrict the number of households currently covered by the garden waste collection service (circa 66,000) but this does not allow for any further expansion of the service as the city grows. It will also lead to a situation where council tax payers are receiving a differential level of service.
36. The second option is to start charging for the garden waste collection service. If a charge was to be introduced then the Council would need to ensure that this was affordable, to encourage participation in the scheme. The Council could also look at a discounted rate of 50% for residents where affordability may be an issue, using those eligible for Council Tax Support as a way of applying the discount. It is also important to ensure there is adequate provision for those residents who do not wish to subscribe for the garden waste service. This reflects the information contained within the Equality Impact Assessment (see Annex B).
37. Charging for the garden waste service would ensure there was equality of opportunity; the scheme can be offered to all households that are able to have a wheeled bin for garden waste and who wish to subscribe to the service.
38.
The disadvantage to charging for the garden waste service is that
it is an additional cost for householders. However, Executive may
wish to mitigate this by offering a 50% discount on the
subscription rate for the garden waste service for residents in
receipt of Council Tax Support. However, it does ensure that those
residents who want the service can choose to pay for it but other
alternatives also need to be considered. It will also lead to a
likely decrease in the amount of tonnes of waste that are recycled
(in terms of the specific performance indicator used to measure
this).
Additional Considerations
39. There is also an additional option to offer households who do not wish to subscribe to the kerbside garden waste collection service the chance to purchase discounted home composters. This is not only a benefit to the environment but it also allows households to undertake composting activities at home. The Council could enter into partnership with a compost bin provider to make compost bins available at a competitive price. The Council will provide information on how to use a compost bin and educate and encourage residents to maximise use of this option.
40. If a charge for the garden waste service is to be introduced then it is important to offer alternatives to those households who do not wish to pay for a garden waste collection service. Therefore, the Council would need to continue to allow all residents to dispose of garden waste, free of charge, at the two household waste recycling centres (HWRC’s) in York.
41. The garden waste wheelie bins across the city have been in situ for a number of years. If a garden waste subscription service was to be introduced, the bins would be replaced free of charge. This would only be for bins that have damage (e.g. damaged wheels, cracked bins etc). In addition, the garden waste subscription service would be delivered using a 180 litre bin (therefore, if an older 240 litre garden waste bin is in existence this can be used until the point it breaks but the subscription service would be delivered through a 180 litre bin upon replacement).
42. If residents do not wish to subscribe to the garden waste service, then it is recommended that there be the continuation of free disposal of garden waste at HWRC’s and the option of purchasing a discounted home compost bin. In addition, as ‘old’ wheelie bins would be difficult for residents to dispose of it is proposed that (i) residents can be encouraged to keep garden waste bins at their properties and use them for water butts or even for storage purposes and/or (ii) a one-off collection of garden waste bins be undertaken for those households not subscribing to the garden waste service. This would require the resident to register for the removal and this collection would be undertaken free of charge (please note that this would likely be undertaken 12 -18 months after any subscription service be adopted). The Council will ensure that it liaises with an appropriate contractor to recycle the old garden waste bins.
43. The majority of local authorities across England charge for garden waste collections from the kerbside. There is no evidence to suggest that charging a subscription fee for garden waste leads to an increase in fly tipping. Most residents either choose to home compost or take their garden waste to a HWRC (which is free of charge). Fly tipping will continue to be monitored and if appropriate enforcement action would be taken against offenders.
44. Consideration has been given to the potential for any adverse climate change impacts. If residents choose not to subscribe to the garden waste service, experience from other authorities shows that people home compost and there is no corresponding rise in residual waste tonnages. In addition, experience shows that not all households will subscribe to the garden waste collection service and therefore, in future years there is likely to be capacity to offer the service to households not currently served by the current garden waste service.
How A Garden Waste Scheme Could Operate
45. The garden waste subscription would operate on an annual basis (i.e. the householder would pay a set fee for kerbside garden waste collections in a particular season (the season would run for 40 weeks between March to early December so a resident would receive up to 20 garden waste collections per year).
46. The fee would be payable, in advance, for the upcoming garden waste season. The fee would be paid in full and it is proposed that this can be done through an online form as a preferred option or through the Council’s contact centre.
47. Information for subscribing households could be held on the Council’s existing waste management system (Webaspx). This would record which households have subscribed to the garden waste service. In addition to this information, it is proposed that subscribing households are issued with a tamper proof sticker to affix to the bin. The colour of the sticker would change annually to provide a visual reminder for collection crews regarding which households have a valid subscription. Only garden waste bins with a valid subscription would be collected.
Garden Waste Conclusion
48.
Therefore, on balance it is recommended that the garden waste
service becomes a subscription service but with a charge to be set
at such a level to encourage participation in the scheme. The
current charge for a second garden waste bin in York is £43
and the charge for the annual garden waste service across North
Yorkshire (our nearest local authority) is currently £43.50
and is set to rise to £46.50 in 2024. It is recommended that
the fee is set at £46.50 per bin. Members could apply a
discount of 50% to make this more affordable for some
households.
WASTE POLICY
49. The service is seeking to adopt a formal Waste Policy as it is important that there is a clear understanding of what is offered by the Waste and Recycling Service. The Waste Policy will ensure there are agreed policies and procedures in place so there is transparency and clarity for residents, officers and Council Members over what the Waste and Recycling Service entails.
Background
50. The Waste Service operates a domestic and commercial waste service across the city. The service has a statutory duty to collect household waste and at least two forms of recyclable waste from the kerbside at approximately 91,500 households across the city. In addition to this, the service also provides a kerbside collection of garden waste to approximately 66,000 households across the city.
51. The Waste Service also offers and operates a chargeable commercial waste service to over 1,500 businesses across the city. This is slightly different to the household waste service in that it is delivered over six days (Monday to Saturday). Businesses pay for the collection of their waste and can choose from a single waste collection through to multiple recycling collections (depending on how much space they have at their premises).
52. The Commercial Waste service provides collections to some businesses on a daily basis whereas others will have a fortnightly collection. There is a separate set of documents for businesses as they have to (i) hold waste transfer notes (administered by our service) and (ii) have a contract so therefore, the Waste Policy focusses on household waste collections (although Commercial waste is briefly mentioned).
Household Waste
53. The policy sets out the key metrics of the household waste service and what residents can expect from the service. This ranges from the frequency and types of collection through to information on missed collections, assisted collections, bulky waste and the Council’s household waste recycling centres (HWRC’s).
54. There is a detailed section on the Council’s website dedicated to showing residents what happens with the waste that is collected and highlights the waste journey in terms of recycling and waste disposal. This is a highly visual aid (with a video) so this information is not referenced within the Policy.
55. The Waste Policy builds on information that is contained within internal documents and on the Council’s website regarding waste. However, it pulls this information into one document and focuses more on the agreed policies and procedures so there is transparency and clarity for residents, officers and Council Members over what the Waste Service entails. The Policy is clearly indexed and contains links to the Council’s website for ease of navigation.
56. Waste Services is a complex operation with many different variables and therefore having a clear and unambiguous policy is important for all service users. The Policy will be subject to periodic reviews and can be adapted if there are any national changes or local changes to waste collections, collections frequencies or types of collections offered. The Policy is included at Annex A.
Recommended changes to Existing Waste Policies/Practices
57. There are a couple of areas within the Waste Policy where the service would recommend some changes to current practices.
These are as follows:-
· Medical collections – the service would recommend that residents who require the medical collection service be collected on a weekly basis. If there are still issues, then a larger bin could be offered.
· Missed collections – the service is proposing that there will no longer be a return for single missed collections (the service will still return for (i) missed medical collections, (ii) missed assisted collections and (iii) any missed whole streets as the result of ‘no access’, breakdowns etc). This is to ensure that the service balances cost with environmental factors. Additional waste would be accepted at the next scheduled collection for single missed collections.
· Bulky waste collections – the service proposes that we will now start to collect items from behind alley gates (as and where appropriate)
Other Future Service Developments
Bags to Bins
58. The bags to bins project seeks to improve household waste collections for residents in some terraced areas of the city and reduce the potential for injury to our waste collection operatives. The project also seeks to reduce the incidence of windblown litter from torn refuse sacks. In 2015, a project was initiated that identified properties that potentially would be suitable to transition from bags to the wheeled bin service. The project was agreed in principle at the Cabinet Decision Session in November 2015 and commenced in earnest in 2017.
59. The project was implemented in 2 wards (Holgate and Westfield), to the benefit of 1,016 properties which were successfully changed from bags to bins. Since then, the project has stalled because of competing priorities. The Environmental Services team are now in a position to progress this project, but before doing so are seeking approval and a mandate that on the basis of Health and Safety, unless there is a genuine physical reason why a property or street cannot accommodate a wheeled bin, the standard collection method for CYC will be a wheeled bin service.
60. The majority of properties in York already present their household waste using this method (circa 83,500 properties). However, there are about 8,000 properties, in 285 streets, currently have a bag collection for their household waste. It is anticipated that the Bags to Bins project will enhance street level service and the street environments by reducing the amount of litter created from split waste sacks generally caused by residents using kitchen bin liners to present waste rather than proper refuse bags and animals scavenging.
61. If a property is able to accommodate a wheeled bin for household waste, then it is likely to also be suitable for garden waste collections. Garden waste can only be provided to those properties deemed suitable for an individual domestic wheeled bin service. At present there is no scope to expand the garden waste service which is at capacity. However, through other projects such as route optimisation, the provision of a wheeled bin would mean these properties could be looked at for inclusion when reoptimizing the garden waste service.
62. The service would like to supply a wheeled bin service to approximately 5,500 properties across 7 wards.
63. The table below shows the wards identified by the project which are considered suitable for wheeled bins. Wards are not in priority order. If members would like officers to consider specific wards as a priority these can be looked at, otherwise they will be implemented in the order they appear in the table.
|
Ward |
No. of streets suitable for wheeled bins |
No. of properties suitable for wheeled bins |
|
Clifton |
20 |
635 |
|
Fishergate |
14 |
433 |
|
Guildhall |
49 |
1313 |
|
Heworth |
5 |
95 |
|
Holgate |
2 |
184 |
|
Hull Road |
1 |
49 |
|
Micklegate |
79 |
2835 |
|
TOTAL |
170 |
5544 |
64. Every street in scope of the project was re-assessed for bin suitability and vehicle access in 2021, after new Route Risk assessments were undertaken. Many properties previously deemed as unsuitable were reclassified as now suitable for a wheeled bin collection. This is also in part to the service procuring new narrow chassis refuse vehicles which make access easier. The table below shows the number of properties that have now moved from ‘unsuitable’ to ‘suitable’.
|
Ward |
No. of properties previously unsuitable |
No. of these properties now suitable |
|
Clifton |
1223 |
635 |
|
Fishergate |
638 |
433 |
|
Guildhall |
2374 |
1313 |
|
Heworth |
157 |
95 |
|
Holgate |
413 |
184 |
|
Hull Road |
49 |
49 |
|
Micklegate |
3487 |
2835 |
|
TOTAL |
8341 |
5544 |
65. Suitable properties are those which meet the following criteria:
· sufficient external storage space for the wheeled bin in between collections.
· streets which are accessible to the vehicles which are able to collect wheeled bins.
· properties in streets where accessibility is afforded and wheeled bins would not cause significant obstruction to the highway on collection day.
· properties with a suitable place to present the bin for collection – this may be front edge of property or at a central collection point for a number of properties.
66. Properties which are unsuitable for wheeled bins are those which do not meet the criteria above. They may also have other operational reasons identified which make them unsuitable for wheeled bin collections.
67. If the decision is to approve the move from bags to bins then there is provision in the existing capital budgets for the purchase of wheeled bins.
68. The service is keen to provide wheeled bins where possible to residents and transition households from bagged collections to wheeled bin collections for household waste. The service is happy to undertake any individual Councillor ward ‘walkabouts’ prior to agreeing the streets moving from bags to bins in each ward. Adopting this approach also means we could order a large number of bins at once which would bring the price of containers down compared to smaller individual orders.
69. If properties do transition from bagged collections to wheeled bins, then one standard grey 180 litre wheeled bin for residual waste will be provided free of charge to each property. Following roll out, any subsequent replacement bins requested by the resident will be subject to the council’s charging for bins policy.
70. If adopted, ward members will be informed in advance of rollout within their ward. They will be provided with a list of affected streets and property numbers, a timetable for the rollout, and any other information of relevance to the project and their ward.
71. The service will write to properties suitable for wheeled bins and provide affected residents with notice that wheeled bins are being introduced. This communication will also include:
· dates for rollout
· guidance on how to use a standard 180 litre wheeled bin.
· where the bin should be stored in between collections.
· the presentation points for collection.
· where relevant, we may include maps showing the location of a central collection point.
· our responsibilities during collections.
· assisted collection information.
72. Households currently registered for an assisted collection will continue to receive this service using their wheeled bin. We will write a separate letter to these addresses to ensure assisted collection residents are not unduly concerned and understand that the service will continue.
73. Larger households, which meet the qualifying criteria, may upgrade their wheeled bin to a 240 litre (households of 5), or a 360 litre bin for households of 6 or more.
Round Optimisation
74. The service has reached a point where a round re-balancing and re-routing exercise is required. This is the result of expansion of the city with more households to service and changes made to the waste. In addition, changes to the waste and recycling fleet offer opportunities to further improve the service. The current rounds are based on the old fleet and are therefore less efficient than they could be.
75. The new rounds should improve the service to customers whilst reducing cost and minimises the impact on the environment by reducing mileage (waste vehicles drive travel approximately 4 miles to the gallon). Re-optimisation of the collection rounds would be designed to ensure that recent housing growth and new developments in construction, can be added to collection rounds and also ensures that the ‘task’ is more balanced and equitable amongst the collection crews.
76. The round optimisation piece of work is complex and requires both internal and external resources (i.e. external and internal checking and verification of routes and updating of the round management system). The re-optimisation will see the creation of circa 250 collection rounds. As part of the modelling, the service would seek to ensure that residents have a ‘matched ‘collection day (i.e. their household waste and recycling waste is collected on the same day but on different weeks). Collection days for the vast majority of residents would change as when all vehicles are ‘grouped’ and collecting in a similar area each day there will be a high proportion of collection days and in some cases the week of collection that may change from the current collection day/week.
City Centre Collections
78. The Council is seeking tenders to continue the service under contract. The proposal is that subject to tenders being affordable the award of contract is delegated to officers in consultation with the relevant Executive Members and statutory officers.[GJ2]
Next Steps
79. Should members decide to approve the principle of a garden waste subscription service then officers will update the Draft Waste Policy in Annex A to reflect a Subscription Service for Green Waste and prepare a set of Terms and Conditions.
80.
Further work will be undertaken on the Draft Waste Policy to update
the documents in terms of the previous decision to charge holiday
lets and Air B7Bs as commercial waste.
81. In addition the council will develop of waste campaigns that support residents and businesses to reduce the amount of waste they produce, recycle more of it and move towards a circular economy (review performance measures in line with this change).
Organisational Impact and Implications
82. The implications are as follows:
· Financial: The recommendation is to introduce a subscription service for garden waste collections. This is anticipated to generate an income of circa. £900k which will offset the overall costs of providing the service. One-off costs of up to £250k can be charged to the waste Reserve which currently stands at £829k. The cost of purchasing new bins for the 5,500 Bags to Bins properties can be met through the Public Realm and Waste Equipment capital budget of £163k. The overall value of income will ultimately be dependent on take up for the service. If Members were to offer the 50% discount, it is likely to reduce overall income received indicatively forecast at £30-£50k.
· Human Resources (HR): Any posts that are required to deliver the garden waste service will follow appropriate HR and cost control procedures.
· Legal: Green Waste: A Council does not have to collect garden waste but it is a service it can choose to provide. It can also recover the costs of providing discretionary services but it cannot make a profit. Household Waste: Councils are under a statutory duty to collect household waste and must arrange to do so consistently with concurrent duties to secure continuous improvement and set a balanced budget.
· Procurement: Any proposed works or services, or variations to existing contracts will need to be commissioned via a compliant procurement route under the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and where applicable the Public Contract Regulations 2015. All tenders will need to be conducted in an open, fair and transparent way to capture the key principles of procurement. Further advice regarding the procurement routes, strategies and markets must be sought from the Commercial Procurement Team.
· Health and Wellbeing: Garden waste removal has several positive health benefits for the individual, public health is broadly in support of the proposal presented to approach this aspect of waste removal in the city. We note the revised approach to medical waste removal and feel this is a positive step forward for residents.
· Environment and Climate action: The amount of garden waste composted as part of the Council’s operation may reduce. However, the garden waste not collected from the kerbside would either be composted at home, taken to a household waste recycling centre (HWRC) and composted or in a worst-case scenario placed in a black household waste bin and recovered at Allerton Park (through the anaerobic digestion process). By undertaking a piece of routing and rounding optimisation the collection rounds will be more efficient; reducing emissions and help to improve carbon emissions and air quality. There is no evidence to suggest that increased fly tipping or paving of gardens take place where garden waste charges have been introduced.
· Affordability: Members may wish to offer a 50% discount on the annual subscription fee for resident who may not be able to afford the service e.g. those in receipt of Council Tax Support. If residents do not wish or cannot afford to subscribe then there are other alternatives which are available for the free disposal of garden waste (e.g. home composting and/or disposal at a household waste recycling centre).
· Equalities and Human Rights: There is a proposal for extending the number of households that have their waste collected via wheeled bins as opposed to bags. In addition, these properties could benefit from a chargeable garden waste collection service if they wish to do so. In relation to the proposal to move to a subscription service for garden waste then there are alternatives available to households (e.g. free options such as home composting or taking materials to a household waste recycling centre or even spreading cost through sharing a subscription with a neighbour).
· Data Protection and Privacy: no specific comments on this report.
· Communications: Communications support will be required in the short term around the introduction of the new policy in terms of both managing any media and ensuring public awareness of the change. This will be undertaken, at least in part, within the planned activity which supports the Council's current budget process. In the longer term, a business case for marketing the new service will need to be developed to ensure that householders are aware of the new service, and either subscribe or make use of the alternatives available to them.
· Economy: no specific comments on this report.
Risks and Mitigations
83. The key risk is if residents do not sign up to a subscription service for garden waste collections, then the expected income projections may not be realised. However, the experience in other local authorities shows that their residents continue to subscribe to the garden waste collection service in their areas. Should subscription rates be lower than expected, then the Council would not be deploying resources to collect so there would be a saving to offset the cost. Should take up of the service be lower than anticipated it should be possible to reduce the overall costs as fewer rounds will be required. This should allow operational savings to be made in future years.
Wards Impacted
84. All wards are impacted by the decisions contained within the report.
Contact details
For further information please contact the authors of this Decision Report.
Author
|
Name: |
James Gilchrist |
|
Job Title: |
Director of Transport, Environment and Planning |
|
Service Area: |
Place |
|
Telephone: |
01904 552547 |
|
Report approved: |
Yes |
|
Date: |
16 January 2024 |
Co-author
|
Name: |
Ben Grabham |
|
Job Title: |
Head of Environmental Services |
|
Service Area: |
Place |
|
Telephone: |
07749 710152 |
|
Report approved: |
Yes |
|
Date: |
16 January 2024 |
Background
papers
Executive September 2023 - 2023/24 Finance & Performance Monitor 1
(Public Pack)Agenda Document for Executive, 14/09/2023 17:30 (york.gov.uk)
Annexes
Annex A - Draft Waste Policy
Annex B - Equality Impact Assessment