Agenda item

Discussion:

The Head of Waste Services gave a brief introduction to the annual reports from Veolia and FCC.  Dave Harling from FCC and Melanie Tong from Veolia gave presentations and answered questions on the work carried out in the past year, which included:

FCC

·         An overview of the company – Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC)

·         Recycling rates increased to 63%

·         The introduction of recycling of separated paper and card and cooking oil

·         High recycling rates at all three Medway sites achieved through strategy, diligence of staff and market innovation

·         Reducing landfill and promoting reuse.  This included details of the reprocessing of ridged plastics (505 tons in 2013), reuse of mattress contents, composting and developing relationships with local charities to increase the quantity of items sent for re-use in Medway

·         An overview of the health and safety reporting and communications

·         Details of reviews and investigations of accidents and safety campaigns

·         Customer focus questionnaire which obtained a response of 97% to 98% of users stating they are ‘very or fairly satisfied’.  The site users stating they are ‘very satisfied’ with the overall service during the most recent survey showed an increase from 68% (May 2013) to 85% (August 2013)

·         Details of site resourcing and future contract development.  In order to assist the Council meet its savings targets FCC are striving to improve reuse/recycling/diversion rates in an attempt to reduce disposal costs for the Council.

·         Details of the development of a trade waste proposal in partnership with Medway to assist small and medium enterprises in providing a safe and legal route for disposal of waste.  The aim was to reduce flytipping, support local businesses and reduce the impact and cost of trade waste on the current service.

The Committee asked various questions, which included:

·         The plans for Hoath Way

It was stated that the site was just too small and attempts to restructure it had not been successful. 

·         Potential improvements for Capstone – re trade waste

The Assistant Director, Front Line Services stated that options for trade waste were being considered.  He stated that at present the nearest commercial disposal site was in Sittingbourne which was difficult for Medway businesses.

Veolia

·         An overview of the company and new service

·         Improvements to vehicles by the introduction of a 360 degree camera with live recording system to provide significant benefits to the contract, such as missed bin reports, driving standards monitoring, health and safety and reductions in insurance claims

·         The cost of the new fleet has been paid for from the award from the Department for Local Communities and Government which has reduce the collection cost per household

·         A weekly recycling service was now provided to flats and further improvements are planed to introduce the twin stream service to flats

·         The strong partnership working had contributed to Medway achieving Customer Service Excellence for the past two years

·         Details of recycling tonnages, refuse tonnages, bulky waste, garden and kitchen waste and glass tonnages  since 2009 were given

·         Details of the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) collection and compliance scheme were given

·         An overview of street cleaning was given.  It was stated that the Response Team had assisted with 137 community clearances

·         Waste and recyclable materials picked up by the manual street cleaning staff were separated into double bin barrows

·         An alternative disposal location had been identified to recycle all of the street arising from mechanical sweepers providing 95% diversion from landfill

·         Details of street cleaning tonnage

·         An overview of the disposal contract

·         Details of the recycling and street cleansing performance

·         Public satisfaction rates were given from the quarterly tacker and annual Residents Opinion Poll

·         Staff development, staff welfare and health and safety training details were given

The Committee asked various questions, which included:

·         Does Veolia work with residents associations in relation to people residing in flats?

Veolia and Waste Service staff are already working with Residents Associations on this.

·         Can clothing be recycled in Medway?

This is not done via the kerbside but there are 40 bring sites where clothing can be recycled. 

·         Can anything be done to avoid people stealing from black sacks?

If Veolia see people going through bags this is questioned and reported to officers at Medway Council.

·         How are dead animals disposed of and are any attempts made to identify owners in the case of pets?

The dead animals are disposed of as general waste and pets would be scanned through the microchip scanner in attempts to trace owners.

·         Could more be done to clean walkways, particularly those linking roads together, not alongside a road?

It was explained that some of these did not form part of the area which Veolia were contracted to clean.  The Assistant Director, Front Line Services confirmed this and stated that across Medway there were 350-400km of alleyways and it was not possible financially to clean them all.  Some are privately owned, some are cleaned on a schedule and some are cleaned on demand.

The Head of Waste Services and the representatives from FCC and Veolia were thanked for their presentation.

Decision:

The Committee welcomed the provision of a trade waste facility in Medway and requested further briefings in future with a possible visit, after May 2015, to recycling and transfer facilities.