The reorganisation of refuse collections and introduction of a
Parish-wide recycling scheme for St. Helier
For consideration by the Parish Assembly
on
th
30 September 2009
PROPOSITION
THE PARISHIONERS are asked to take into consideration and if deemed advisable
to accept the recommendation of the Connétable and Procureurs du Bien Public that the
Parish reorganises its refuse collections and introduces collections of recyclables across the
Parish from January 2010 as set out in Projet 12/2009
REPORT
During the past six years several reviews of the Parish’s refuse collection services have been
undertaken, both in-house, by Mr Tony Pallot, and using an external consultant with wide
experience of refuse collection services in towns of a similar size across the United Kingdom.
Public consultation has also been undertaken, and a working group comprising management and the
workforce has been meeting on a regular basis since the appointment of a Recycling Manager. The
current system of refuse collection has served parishioners well for many years and benefits from
the dedication of the Parish’s refuse collection staff who go out in all weathers to perform their task.
However, the reviews and bench marking exercise that have been carried have shown that over the
years the refuse rounds have become complicated, and a number of practices need to be changed, in
particular, the requirement for collection vehicles to return to the depot at the top of Queen’s Road
during the morning rush hour for the morning break. Most municipal authorities offer the refuse
collection staff a ‘task and finish’ arrangement whereby crews do not return to their depot until their
rounds are completed, and take their statutory breaks away from the depot. Reducing the number of
vehicles servicing the same parts of the Parish will also lead to savings in fuel use, as well as in the
capital and maintenance costs involved in running the vehicle fleet.
The implementation of the Refuse review will entail the reduction from seven refuse rounds to four.
These will work on a zonal system with each round completing an area of the main town and
several outlying businesses every morning before moving out into one of the five zones. The system
is devised to ensure domestic and commercial properties continue to receive one collection per
week
The resultant manpower savings on refuse collection will enable staff to be used to delivering a
recycling collection service for the whole Parish. Not only does this guarantee no jobs will be lost
as a result of improving the refuse collection, but it also means that a parish-wide collection of
recyclables can be introduced without increasing labour costs and hence increasing the Parish rate.
The Parish has made good progress in testing its ability to collect recyclables in the Havre des Pas
‘zero waste’ scheme (P.3/2006), unanimously approved by the Parish Assembly in June 2006.
However, many parishioners are impatient to be provided with a recycling scheme such has been
provided in several other parishes. It should be pointed out that if approved and implemented the
proposed scheme for St. Helier will be the most comprehensive recycling scheme in any of the
parishes, offering weekly (rather than monthly) collections of recyclables. It is also important to
recognize that the Parish is not proposing any reduction in the service as far as the collection of
ordinary ‘residual’ domestic refuse is concerned, such as has happened in many UK towns where
recycling has been introduced.
It is not planned to include glass in the kerbside recycling scheme at this stage, as the use of bring
banks around the Parish is working well. The Parish is investigating the possibility of introducing
in-ground glass banks to reduce the noise nuisance caused by the glass bins in some locations, such
as can be seen in many French towns. The collection of kitchen waste which is undertaken in the
Havre des Pas area will continue, with the testing of an in-vessel composting process at the Mont a
l’Abbé depot. In due course this could be extended to the whole Parish. The kerbside collection of
green waste is also being considered.
Commercial waste will continue to be collected from business premises, including restaurants and
hotels, many of which receive multiple visits each week. While it is not planned to charge for these
extra collections, charging for commercial collections on Saturdays will be levied, as these require
overtime payments to Parish staff. Currently only commercial glass collections and Sunday refuse
collections are charged for. As part of the recycling programme a commercial cardboard collection
round will be introduced in order to remove the large quantities of cardboard that are produced,
thereby reducing the pressure on the remaining ‘eurobin sites’.
The new recycling service will require the purchase of one kerbside collection vehicle, and
modifications to two existing vehicles, together with the purchase of plastic bags for the collection
of household recyclables.
The Parish Assembly has previously voted £100,000 to provide an additional shed at the Mont a
l’Abbé depot so that recyclables can be sorted and dispatched for re-use, and it is planned to seek
expressions of interest from recycling companies to enter into an agreement with the Parish to
provide the extra funding that will be required to construct a shed suitable for this purpose.
Extensive work has been carried out to investigate potential users for the large quantities of glass,
metal and paper which will result from the successful implementation of the Parish’s recycling
scheme, including a French company which manufactures egg boxes made from recycled paper. It
is well known that the public will be more willing to take part in recycling schemes if they know the
end-use of the recyclables.
Subject to the approval of parishioners, the changes to refuse collection and the introduction of
kerbside recycling will be introduced together in January 2010. To achieve this without
inconveniencing the public, it is intended to produce a series of information leaflets to explain how
the scheme will be introduced and how parishioners can take part in it. Presentations will also be
held in community halls and schools, and close liaison will be maintained with the States of Jersey
recycling officers.
A “Recycling” hot line will set up at the Municipal Services Depot in order to deal with all queries
raised by the Parishioners.
Communicating the information well, reporting back on recycling rates and dealing with all queries
raised in a timely fashion will be vital to ensure the success of the scheme.
As has been already explained, no increased staff costs are anticipated as a result of the
introduction of a Parish-wide recycling scheme. Direct costs will be the purchase of plastic sacks
for recycling (£42,000 – an annual cost if the sacks are to be supplied to parishioners at no cost); the
purchase of a new 14 tonne kerbside recycling vehicle (£90,000); the conversion of two existing
vehicles (£25,000), a total of £192,000. This sum can be found from within existing budgets.