Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Agenda
Item
Report of Director of Technical & Environmental Services
to
Waste Management Working Party
on
12th June 2003
Report prepared by : E J Whiddon
Municipal Waste Management Strategy (Discussion Report 2)
- Analysis of Waste Arisings 2002/03 to increase Recycling/Treatment
(Environmental Scrutiny Committee – Executive Councillor Mrs A Holland)
Part I Public Agenda Item
1.
The Issue
1.1
Having regard to the previous report entitled ‘Timetable for the Development of the Municipal
Waste Management Strategy for the Borough’ it was identified that the Landfill Directive targets
are likely to require diversion of Municipal Waste from landfill of:
18%
27%
36%
49%
57%
2003/04
2005/06
2010/11
2013/14
2020/21
1.2
This first report considers ‘How the Council will achieve these diversions’ and ‘How much will it
cost’.
2.
Recommendation
2.1
The views of the Working Party are sought in respect of the amount of diversion of waste
that householders of the Borough should be expected to undertake.
3.
Background
3.1
Appendix 1 show the Borough’s waste which was handled in 2002/03 and this model will be
developed throughout the process of developing a Municipal Waste Strategy.
3.2
The model will be explained at the meeting but it identifies the various waste streams and enables
future scenarios to be illustrated in terms of diversion from landfill.
3.3
The 2002/03 model represents a diversion from landfill of 18.0% of Household Waste and an
overall 20% of Municipal Waste. Reference should be made to 1.1 which outlines the future level
of Diversion of Municipal Waste from Landfill. It can be seen that the challenge is significant
given that the Council offers a weekly dry recyclable waste collection service to all households
together with green waste composting and is only achieving an 18% diversion.
4
Discussion
4.1
With reference to Appendix 1 each waste stream will be considered separately so that the scope
for increased diversion away from landfill can be considered.
106728710
Part I
Page 1 of 6
Report No:
DTES03/88 Final
Commercial Waste – Business & Industrial
4.2
This waste is collected by Cory Environmental from premises in the Borough and the cost of
collection and disposal is paid for by the customer.
4.2.1
Clinical waste [waste to be dealt with in accordance with the procedures for clinical waste
although the waste is not known to be harmful to humans] is collected in the form of
sanitary towels nappies and incontinent pads separated at the Borough’s public toilets
and some public buildings (including the Civic Centre), as well as soiled material from
some nursing homes, children’s nurseries, veterinary surgeries etc. This waste is
diverted from Landfill as this waste needs to be incinerated at a hospital.
4.2.2
The sucking out of silt and debris in road gully pots is undertaken twice a year and it is not
practical to divert this type of waste from landfill due to its nature.
4.2.3
Business waste collections, are in nature, similar to household waste but the waste
comes from shops, offices and small factories.
It is recommended that Cory
Environmental offer selected businesses trials for recycling glass, office paper and
card in the second half of 2003. The trials will be self financing.
4.2.4
Due to the limited scope of the service officered, Cory collects only a small percentage of
the Commercial waste generated. Other local and national waste management
companies offer bulk collections using large enclosed skips and roll on/off bins.
Street Litter and Refuse
4.3
This waste is picked up by Cory from streets and land in the open to which the public has access,
which includes public car parks and the foreshore, and as a result of emptying litter bins.
4.3.1
This waste is mixed and there is no opportunity to recycle any of this material as the
contamination levels are too high. New technology may ultimately be able to successfully
treat this waste.
Mini Recycling Centres
4.4
Twenty one sites are provided throughout the Borough and the creation of new sites has proved
difficult due to the opposition from local residents, and sites on private parking areas have not
been possible due to the planning requirements to make car parking space available.
4.4.1
Containers are provided at these sites for most dry recyclable waste. However, it is
recommended that Cory Environmental provides facilities at the existing sites for
householders to deposit junk mail and other paper. Cory to investigated this
initiative.
Civic Amenity Sites
4.5
106728710
Two sites are provided by the Council, one at Stock Road, Southend and the other at Leigh
Marsh, adjacent to Leigh-on-Sea Railway Station.
4.5.1
There are number of initiatives that could be undertaken at the Civic Amenity Sites.
4.5.2
Essex County Council has successfully reduced the amount of soil and hardcore that they
handle by limiting quantities brought in by residents. On the Essex sites residents are
only permitted to bring 40kg (two refuse sized sacks) of this type of material per day. The
effect for Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is likely to be a reduction in the amount of
material handled and therefore the recycling rate would automatically increase. Whilst
there would be a potential nett saving to the Council the operator of the Civic Amenity
Sites is only paid by the Council for recycling waste, no site management fee is currently
paid, and hence the operator relies on revenue generated through the diversion of soil
and hardcore away from landfill. If the quantity of hardcore and soil is limited at the sites
there would be a loss of revenue to the site operator from the recycling of these materials
and it is likely that there would be a need to reimburse via a management fee by the
Council. If this is considered by the Council to be a viable option Cory would recommend
that this change is made with effect from April 2004 and that residents are notified at the
Part I
Page 2 of 6
Report No:
DTES03/88 Final
same time as they receive their permits in March 2004 of the limitation of taking soil and
hardcore to the sites.
4.5.3
Wood can be recycled from Civic Amenity sites but there is currently a nett charge made
by reprocessers and therefore a cost for this activity would result. It is also possible to
offer facilities to recycle spectacles, mobile phones, computers, carpets and books at
Civic Amenity sites. However this would have to be undertaken more as a public
relations campaign rather than a serious attempt to improve recycling rates. On the other
hand “every little bit counts”.
4.5.4
The Council will be aware that there is a directive on other electrical goods ranging from
“singing birthday cards or socks” to washing machines and everything in between. A trial
has already been undertaken in conjunction with the Council’s contractor, Sims Metals
UK Ltd, where this type of material was placed in a single skip at one of the Civic Amenity
sites and taken away for analysis. Following this analysis it has become clear that the
quantities are very small as much of this material is identified by the Civic Amenity site
operator and diverted for reuse.
4.5.5
It is recommended that Cory Environmental discusses the foregoing with the Civic
Amenity Site operator with a view to identifying proposals for quantifying the
diversion away from landfill together with any costs involved.
Collection from Households
4.6
106728710
This waste stream results from household premises within the Borough, houses, bungalows, flats
etc.
4.6.1
In addition to the waste currently separated by the householder, Cory Environmental has
identified additional waste streams which could be collected.
4.6.2
Junk Mail – currently residents are not encouraged to include junk mail with the other
materials in the recycling sack. The material sorting facility at the depot in Southend was
not designed to deal with junk mail and consequently these smaller pieces of paper fall
through the tromel and are rejected. Cory will conduct a limited trial over the next
three months to establish whether this material can be sorted so that the quality of
the end product is such that it will be accepted by a re-processor and the
associated costs.
4.6.3
Brown Card [cardboard boxes] – the current weekly recycling scheme does not
encourage residents to include brown card in recycling sacks. However, in the future it is
thought that residents could be encouraged to break this type of card packaging and
include it with the other materials in the sacks, or it could be collected loose provided it
was presented “flat” . Minor alterations may need to be made to the materials sorting
facility and negotiations would need to take place with the re-processor who currently
takes the “grey” card [cereal boxes etc].
4.6.4
The estimated quantity of Junk Mail and Brown Card that could be diverted is 1,500 tonne
p.a. at an estimated cost of the order of £46,000 p.a. (for a four year period starting 1 st
April 2004).
4.6.5
Glass Containers – the bring sites are the most cost effective way of collecting glass
available to the Council. The introduction of a doorstep scheme is unlikely to have an
adverse effect on the bring sites. A doorstep collection is likely to divert 400 tonne p.a. at
an estimated cost of the order of £350,000 p.a. (for a four year period starting 1st April
2004). Cory suggests that the possibility of implementing a doorstep glass
collection scheme is fully investigated. Productivities and potential collection and
containment methods would be identified and capital and operating (running)
costs established. Cory believe it would be in the best interests of the Council to have
completed and analysed this work so that a bid for subsidy could be submitted through
DEFRA should further funding become available. Cory have already been successful in
assisting Local Authorities in “unlocking” this type of funding for recycling activities.
4.6.6
Having regard to 4.6.2, 4.6.3 and 4.6.5 the depot is of insufficient size to
accommodate the infrastructure to deal with this additional diversion, hence the
cost of relocating the depot needs to be considered.
Part I
Page 3 of 6
Report No:
DTES03/88 Final
4.6.7
Yellow Pages – this has traditionally been a contaminant when newspapers and
magazines are separated and sold. The yellow dye and glue causes the contamination.
However, Cory Environmental will be collecting Yellow Pages separately via the
current dry recyclable collection scheme. The cost of this service will be minimal as
yellow pages are providing subsidised funding the for scheme. A competition will take
place in order to encourage people to participate in the scheme. Residents will be asked
to leave their details on the inside cover of the Yellow Pages. Pages will be randomly
selected and the Council will notify the winners at the end of the collection.
4.6.8
Reuse of household computers and bulky/awkward items collected from
Households – Cory Environmental collects bulky or awkward items from households
upon request. A reasonable charge is already made for this service.
4.6.9
An opportunity exists for the Council, Cory Environmental, Seetec and Hamelin
Trust to work together to reuse bulky or awkward items collected by Cory from
households. These items would be stored at Central Cleansing Depot for collection as
reusable items by Seetec, in the case of household computers, and Hamelin Trust for
furniture etc. The quality of waste which can be diverted is not known but this type of
waste is reasonably heavy.
4.6.10 Uncontaminated Food Waste – Currently, there is no food waste scheme available to
householders in the Borough. Such a scheme would have include an in vessel
composting facility instead of the present windrow composting due to the prospective
regulations on catering waste and animal by-products order. The estimated quantity of
food waste in the waste stream is 7,000 tonne p.a. This quantity may be optimistic as it is
based upon historic analysis which is likely not to have regard to the increasing trend of
prepared supermarket ready meals. When investigating other Councils Food Waste
Collection the most common method was a co-mingled collection with green waste. The
collections could be undertaken using pre-paid biodegradable sacks. Due to the
uncertainty in legislation it is difficult to make any decisions regarding the food waste
scheme until the Government’s guidance has been tested in practice. The Essex County
Council/Southend-on-Sea Borough Council Composting Contract is being extended in
scope to include an opportunity for in vessel composting. When the costs of In Vessel
Composting are known the treatment of food waste can be considered.
4.6.11 In summary if junk mail, brown card and glass were recovered based upon the
assumptions used to calculate the estimates then the 27% 2005/06 target is unlikely to be
achieved. By also including Food Waste the target is likely to be achieved (waste growth
may reduce the % achieved). It is likely that the additional cost of diversion by
householder separation would be of the order of £396,000 p.a. for diverting junk mail,
brown card and glass plus the cost of relocating the depot. The additional cost of dealing
with food waste cannot be estimated until the cost of treatment is known.
Other Initiatives
4.7
These include encouraging home composting of green and some food waste; the use of Real
Nappies; and education.
4.7.1
106728710
Part I
Home Composting – to date the Council has sold approximately 8600 home
composters to residents within the Borough. The estimated number of households that
have gardens is approximately 52,850 (based on 70% of total number of households). To
run a subsidised home composting scheme would cost approximately £3.51 per
household. To subsidise every household would cost £142,000. This cost could be
spread over a four-year period costing of the order of £35,000 per year. The quantity of
green waste/food waste which would be taken out of the waste stream by this initiative
cannot be quantified.
Page 4 of 6
Report No:
DTES03/88 Final
4.7.2
Real Nappies – The Council currently runs a scheme in which parents who are interested
in Real Nappies are given a 20 week free nappy service. This includes the following:






Dirty nappy bin
Bin liners
Deodorising disc
Nappy liner
Weekly collection and delivery service
Laundering service
It is estimated that this scheme is likely to divert 52 tonne per annum of nappies from the
household waste stream. To continue this initiative could cost £26,000 p.a.
4.7.3
Education – the Council in Partnership with the Scouts Association, Waste Watch and
funded by HSBC have designed an Education Program which is offered to cub scouts
aged 8-10 about the issues associated with waste. This initiative will target reducing the
reuse and recycling of waste and problems associated with litter and dumping.
4.7.4
Other public Education and Information Strategies will need to be developed as part of
the Council’s Implementation Plan for the Strategy over the next 5 years and could be
linked with the 5 Year Litter Education Plan detailed in the Best Value Highway
Maintenance Improvement plan.
Diversion by a Treatment Factory
4.8
Cory Environmental will provide information to enable the next report to explore the potential for
diverting waste from landfill by recycling/treating the mixed waste stream in a local factory capable
of handling approximately 80,000 tonne per annum. This may provide a more cost effective
option for diverting waste from landfill and will be less susceptible to the adverse effects that
waste growth has on householder separation.
5.
Background Papers
5.1
Report DTES03./29 – Timetable for the Development of a Municipal Waste Management Strategy
for the Borough.
5.2
Cory Environmental Municipal Services has provided information for inclusion in this report.
6.
Appendices
6.1
The following appendix is attached to this report:
6.1.1
106728710
Part I
Appendix 1 – Municipal Waste Treatment Analysis 2002/03
Page 5 of 6
Report No:
DTES03/88 Final
106728710
Part I
Page 6 of 6
Report No:
DTES03/88 Final