Agenda item

Decision:

1.   To approve the closure of the recycling ‘bring’ sites across the borough, converting two – Station Parade in East Horsley and Portsmouth Road in Guildford – to flats recycling collection points.

2.   To cease the supply of refuse sacks to the 1,917 properties that currently receive them but to continue the supply of recycling sacks.

3.   To cease supplying 7L internal food waste caddies for use in residents’ kitchens.

4.   To continue to supply 23L external kerbside food waste caddies.

5.   To continue the supply of recycling bins.

Reason(s):

Acceptance of the proposals to close the ‘bring’ sites, cease the supply of refuse sacks and cease the supply of 7L internal food waste caddies allows a reduction in costs to the taxpayer with relatively little operational or customer service impact. Continuing the supply of 23L external kerbside food waste caddies and recycling bins allows the current service provision to continue uninterrupted while we wait for the impending recycling service regulatory update.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

1.       ‘Bring’ sites

Option 1 - Do nothing – keep all 22 bring sites operating as currently.

Option 2 - Reduce the numbers of bring sites – reviewing the distribution of sites would lead to a limited cost saving dependent on which sites were closed.

2.       Refuse and recycling sack provision

Option 1 - Do nothing – continue to supply both refuse and recycling sacks.

Option 3 - Stopping the supply of both refuse and recycling sacks – offering a cost saving of £46,302 annually (through the ceasing of all sack supply and delivery).

3.       Small kitchen food waste caddy provision

Option 1 - Do nothing – continue to supply the 7L internal caddy for use within residents’ kitchen.

Option 3 - Charge for 7L internal kitchen caddies – this charge would need to be around £15 per container to cover the purchase, administration and delivery costs. There would be an online order system development cost of £4,500 and the demand may create an additional requirement for an additional delivery driver and vehicle as purchased containers would need to be delivered where they are currently collected from Parish Councils and the Millmead office.

4.       Charging for food waste caddies

Option 2 - Stop supplying all food waste caddies – this would provide a cost saving of £7,160 for the 7L internal caddies and £26,007 for the provision of 23L external caddies. There is no saving on delivery costs as these are not delivered. This option would require residents to provide their own caddies which is expected to reduce use of the food waste service, prompting more food waste to end up in the refuse bins and would raise health and safety concerns stemming from the use of uncertified containers by our crews leaving us liable for any crew injury.

Option 3 - Charging for all caddies – We have identified that we would need to charge around £15 for a small caddy and £17 for a large caddy to cover the cost of the container, administration and delivery costs. There would also be an online order system development cost of £4,500.

5.       Charging for recycling bins

Option 2 - Charge for delivery only – this would provide cost savings of approximately £7,200 annually but would also have an online order development cost of £4,500.

Option 3 - Charge for containers and their delivery – this would generate cost savings of approximately £35,000 annually but would also have a system development cost of £4,500.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.

The Lead Councillor for Planning, Environment and Climate Change introduced the report. Officers were commended for undertaking a review of the existing service and for the recommendations that had arisen as a result.

The Executive heard there were proposals to make changes to the Council’s recycling policy in a number of areas. A review of the policy had been driven from a service challenge procedure and was focused on making the service more cost efficient for the taxpayer without substantial environmental or customer service impact.

The recommendations covered five areas relating to the operation of recycling ‘bring’ sites; the provision of refuse and recycling sacks to properties without space for wheeled bins; the provision of indoor use food waste caddies; the provision of kerbside food waste caddies and the provision of recycling bins.

‘Bring’ sites predated kerbside collections and were now said to make twice as much work for collection teams since the recycled materials were identical. The sites were costly to maintain and also attracted fly-tipping. The proposal was to retain two ‘bring’ sites and to convert them to recycling points for adjacent flats which currently had no space to recycle. Arrangements would be made to close the sites in late January 2024. There would be communications with residents to give notice and advise them of the change.

The proposal to withdraw the provision of black bin sacks to those households without space to accommodate the usual large, wheeled bins would provide a saving as such bin sacks were widely available at a relatively low cost. The Council would continue to provide recycling sacks as these needed to be transparent for collection purposes and as such were not so widely available. Similarly, the small household caddies were widely available commercially and at less cost than if the Council were to charge residents for them. Once again, there would be a strong communications plan to advise residents.

It was noted that the recommendations had been considered by the Community Executive Advisory Board on 7 September 2023 with the feedback from that meeting being in agreement.

The Executive was in agreement with the proposals and consequently,

RESOLVED:

1.   To approve the closure of the recycling ‘bring’ sites across the borough, converting two – Station Parade in East Horsley and Portsmouth Road in Guildford – to flats recycling collection points.

2.   To cease the supply of refuse sacks to the 1,917 properties that currently received them but to continue the supply of recycling sacks.

3.   To cease supplying 7L internal food waste caddies for use in residents’ kitchens.

4.   To continue to supply 23L external kerbside food waste caddies.

5.   To continue the supply of recycling bins.

Reason(s):

Acceptance of the proposals to close the ‘bring’ sites, cease the supply of refuse sacks and cease the supply of 7L internal food waste caddies allows a reduction in costs to the taxpayer with relatively little operational or customer service impact. Continuing the supply of 23L external kerbside food waste caddies and recycling bins allows the current service provision to continue uninterrupted while we wait for the impending recycling service regulatory update.