Issue - meetings

This report presents a revised Joint Municipal Waste Strategy for the North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council waste management partnership and seeks approval to adopt the Strategy.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the revised Joint Municipal Waste Strategy attached as Annex 1 to the report be adopted.

                        (ii)        That Officers be requested to develop a joint communication plan to inform the public of future decisions relating to the awarding of the contract.

                        (iii)       That it be further requested that a revision of the 2004 York Waste Strategy, with particular regard to recycling targets within the City, be brought to the Executive before the end of 2006.

Members considered a report which presented a revised Joint Municipal Waste Strategy (JMWS) for the North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) and City of York Council (CYC) Waste Management Partnership.  Officers reported at the meeting that there was an error in Table 2 on page 16 of the JMWS document annexed to the report.  In the 'Rate of Growth (%)' column , under year 05/06 estimate, the figure “-1.36” should read “- 0.45”.

The revised JMWS responded to government increases to landfill taxes and recycling targets since adoption of the existing JMWS in 2002, as well as to a general increase in environmental awareness and responsibility.  It described the key principles of the Partnership and set out minimum collective targets for limiting waste growth and increasing recycling.  The JMWS had been developed in consultation with key partners, stakeholders and the public.  As a result of that consultation, it remained open with regard to the choice of residual waste treatment technology and CYC would undertake a full consultation exercise with residents on this before any decision was taken.  Following adoption of the JMWS, a number of key decisions would need to be taken before any contract for dealing with residual waste was let.  The timetable for this process was currently uncertain but report outlined the key events planned, culminating in the award of the contract in November 2008.

In response to the issues raised under Public Participation, the Chair stressed that the Executive was not taking any decisions today about the disposal method for residual waste and indicated that there was no intention to build an incinerator in the City of York area.  CYC was committed to exceeding the Partnership’s minimum targets where possible and would be developing a strategy and action plan over the coming months to support this aspiration.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the revised Joint Municipal Waste Strategy attached as Annex 1 to the report be adopted.

REASON:      To enable the partner councils to act within a collective framework from which they can plan their individual waste minimisation plans and targets so as to achieve maximum waste diversion.

                        (ii)        That Officers be requested to develop a communication plan to inform the public of future decisions relating to the awarding of the contract.

REASON:      As part of the ongoing consultation process regarding the choice of residual waste treatment.

                        (iii)       That it be further requested that a revision of the 2004 York Waste Strategy, with particular regard to recycling targets within the City, be brought to the Executive before the end of 2006.

REASON:      To support the Council’s commitment to exceeding the minimum targets set out in the revised JMWS.