Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Harmonisation of Waste Services September 2010
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Agenda Background & context Outline of policy areas addressed Focus on bulky waste & garden waste Impact on performance & budget Key issues & learning points
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Background (1) Needed to make significant savings as part of LGR – waste service >£600k Needed to harmonise former WCA services –Equality of service provision – avoid post code lottery! –Maintain environmental performance –Generate income/reduce costs
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Background (2) Joint MSW Strategy agreed 2003 –AWC of residual and co-mingled recyclables (paper, card, plastic bottles, cans, aerosols). –Bring sites for glass & textiles –Home compost promotion, promoted charged for kerbside garden waste collections
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Areas of Disharmony! Bulky waste – charges, number of items, waste types, service standards, operational arrangements. Garden waste – charges, containers, period for collections, access to service. Bin provision, replacement & changing sizes Side waste & overloaded bins Trade waste services & Schedule 2 compliance Recycling bin contamination & enforcement
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Bulky Waste – Pre LGR 5 out of 6 WCAs levied charge Prices ranged from free to £21 for 3 items Income of £130k but collection cost £304k, net cost of £174k pa ~38,000 service requests each year Collection time ranged 2 – 20 days
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council New Service New pricing structure £ items, £30 – 8 items, £45 – 13 25% concession if on benefits etc £10 each for white goods Full cost recovery for DIY waste – quote Collections within 10 days
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Impact of new bulky waste policy (1) ~75% reduction in service requests Income £122k, collection costs ~£210k, net cost of ~£88k = saving of £86k No adverse impact on flytipping – down from 2322 to 1982
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Impact of new bulky waste policy (2) HWRCs overall tonnage up from 40,885 tonnes to 42,874 tonnes Increased HWRC recycling/recovery rate from 64% to 68% BUT charges not popular in the SE area!
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Garden Waste – Pre LGR Free ‘opt-out’ 14,500 homes – Tynedale One-off £18 charge then free – Blyth Rolls of 10 bio bags £1 – Wansbeck Annual charge ranging £15.50 to £30.25 Seasonal collections 4 areas, 2 right through the year fortnightly &/or monthly ~£170k pa income
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council New Garden Waste Service (1) Annual charge £20 per bin £1.50 roll 10 bio bags (phased out 2010) Fortnightly, 20 collections from March to end of Nov each year – stop in winter Extended coverage Berwick coastal villages
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council New Garden Waste Service (2) Charges highly unpopular – lots of adverse press coverage, but only 108 complaints! 38% drop in take-up (mainly Tynedale), 25,500 to 16,000 customers. Recovered 3,900 bins for reuse
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Garden Waste PI’s 2008/092009/10Variance Kerbside Compost 9,1137,453-1,678 HWRC Compost 10,27010, % HW composted 12.2%11.9%-0.3% Income£170k£277k+£107k
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Overall Impact on PI’s 2008/092009/10Variance NI 191 Kg residual HW per HH NI 192 % HW reused, recycled, composted 38.9%39.0%+0.1% NI 193 % MW sent to landfill57.2%11.5%-45.7% Total Kg HW collected per head512kg492kg-20kg
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Key Learning Points It’s not just about income generation Use of charging as policy tool to maintain environmental performance Communicate the bigger picture Very complex set of variables difficult to pin down cause and effect Monitor, review and refine approach