Agenda item

The report provides an update on the activity carried out by Veolia Environmental Services in the provision of waste and recycling collection, waste disposal and street cleansing services and FCC in providing management of the three household waste recycling centres.

Discussion:

The Head of Waste Services presented a report setting out an update on the activity carried out by Veolia Environmental Services in the provision of waste and recycling collection, waste disposal and street cleansing services and FCC in the management of the three household waste recycling centres.

Melanie Tong from Veolia was in attendance and gave a brief presentation to the Committee on Veolia’s annual service report. The Head of Waste undertook a presentation on behalf of FCC on the basis that the new Contracts Manager had only been in post since January 2017. 

The Committee noted that Melanie Tong would soon be leaving Veolia and would be replaced by Kim Savill in April 2017.

Melanie Tong and the Head of Waste then answered Members’ questions as follows:

·         Percentage of Recycling

A Member questioned why the percentage of recycling in Medway had decreased more than that being experienced nationally.

The Head of Waste confirmed that the recycling rates outlined in the report related to all recycling services and not just kerbside recycling. She advised that this reduction had been a direct result of certain types of items/materials that could no longer be recycled at Household Waste Recycling Centres, mainly involving bulky rigid plastics, oil and mattresses.

She advised that following the introduction of weekly recycling collections, statistics had shown an increase in kerbside recycling rates. Furthermore, the leaflet distributed to households in March 2017 accompanying the Council Tax bill, had resulted in Veolia receiving 500 requests for recycling bags in a two day period. This was considered a positive response to encouraging increased recycling.

·         Bulky Waste Collections

A Member drew attention to the statistics within the report relating to the tonnage for bulky waste and questioned whether the reduction in tonnage could be attributed to the introduction of a charge for the collection of bulky waste.

Melanie Tong advised that the level of bulky waste collections varied dependent upon the time of year and she advised that it would not be possible to assess the impact of the introduction of the collection charge until a full year’s statistics were available. However, the Household Waste Recycling Centres had recorded an increase in the number of items being taken to the Centres for recycling, especially electrical goods. Melanie Tong explained that the tonnage figures did not reflect the true picture of the number of items being sent for recycling as the tonnage for a television would be considerably less than the tonnage for a three piece suite.

·         Street Cleansing satisfaction levels

A Member referred to the satisfaction levels for Street Cleaning and in particular the low level of satisfaction achieved at 56%. This was considerably below the satisfaction target of 75%. Whilst it was noted that the survey methodology had changed in April 2016 from a monthly tracker using electronic, paper and telephone surveys, to using the Citizens Panel, it was considered that this decrease in satisfaction level warranted further investigation.

During discussion on street cleansing, a number of Members expressed their appreciation for the work undertaken by street cleaners and refuse collectors in their particular Wards and it was noted in particular that the number of missed refuse collections was extremely low.

A Member asked whether it was possible for some residents to be provided with refuse bins as opposed to sacks if they lived in areas where their refuse sacks were continuously being torn open by animals. The Head of Waste agreed to investigate this in consultation with the Member direct.

·         Litter at the Hoath Way Roundabout

A Member referred to a number of complaints she had received concerning the level of litter at the Hoath Way Roundabout in Gillingham and asked whether any action could be taken to remedy this.

Melanie Tong advised that Veolia had previously held meetings with Tesco to discuss the need for Tesco to improve methods for reducing litter from its site and commented that the addition of the Kentucky Fried Chicken unit nearby had added to the litter problem in this area. She confirmed that this issue would be raised again with Tesco Store and the other companies in the vicinity of the store.

·         Queuing at Household Waste Collection Sites

A Member asked what action was being taken to reduce the queuing times at the Household Waste Collection Sites.

In response, the Head of Waste Services referred in particular to the Hoath Way site and advised that although officers had carefully considered the layout of this site, owing to the limited space available, it was not possible to reconfigure the layout of the site in any other way. However, the other sites were being actively publicised to encourage users to visit them.

·         Cleansing of Highways and use of Household Waste Collection Sites by non Medway residents

A Member sought information as to which local authority had responsibility for cleaning and litter picking major highways and whether Medway received any funding from other local authorities when their residents used Medway’s Household Waste Collection sites.

The Head of Waste advised that Kent County Council and Medway Council were responsible for cleaning and litter picking those sections of highway that were within their own boundaries.

She also confirmed that Medway received a proportionate level of funding from Kent County Council for usage by non- Medway residents at all three Household Waste Collection sites. 

The following issues were also discussed:

·         Christmas/New Year refuse/recycling collections

Whilst discussing services provided by Veolia, a Member referred to the discussions at the meeting of this Committee on 28 January 2016, following problems that had occurred with the waste and recycling collections over the 2015/16 Christmas/New Year period. He confirmed that there had been significant improvements with collections over the 2016/17 holiday period and he congratulated Veolia and the Waste Services team for resolving these issues.

·         Recycling in flats

A Member also expressed appreciation for the work undertaken to extend recycling facilities to those residents living in flats.

Decision:

The Committee:

a)            noted the annual service updates provided by the two contractors set out in Appendices 1 and 2.

b)            agreed that a briefing note be provided setting out the reasons why the survey methodology for measures of public satisfaction had changed from a monthly tracker to use of the Citizens Panel and why the satisfaction level for street cleaning is significantly below the satisfaction target in 2015/16.

c)            requested officers to undertake further meetings with Tesco and other companies sited in proximity to the Hoath Way roundabout to discuss ways of reducing litter from their premises and Members be advised of the outcome.

d)            expressed their best wishes to Melanie Tong and thanked her for the work that she had undertaken at Veolia in Medway.