AGENDA ITEM 7
BOROUGH OF POOLE
ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
3 JULY 2014
PROPOSAL TO MAKE ADDITIONAL COST SAVINGS AT THE HOUSEHOLD
WASTE RECYCLING CENTRE (HWRC)
1.
PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1
To provide Members with information and options that will inform a business case to
meet the financial savings identified by the Star Chamber as a green saving of an
additional £75,000 from the operation of the Household Waste Recycling Centre
(HWRC).
2.
RECOMMENDATIONS
2.1
That Members recommend to Cabinet that Officers develop a detailed business case
to find a further £75,000 of savings from the operation of the HWRC by restricting
access for vans and thereby reducing the cost of commercial waste treatment for the
council taxpayers of Poole.
2.2
That Members recommend to Cabinet that any final proposals which are presented
contain exceptions policies to ensure that:
(i) Families whose only vehicle is a van can access the site on an agreed basis.
(ii) That a system will be arranged whereby one off access for a van can be agreed
in specific circumstances.
3.
BACKGROUND
3.1
The redeveloped HWRC on Nuffield Road was opened in November 2012. This was
after an 18 month, £5m project to update and improve the HWRC as well as the Waste
Transfer Station.
3.2
The site is open from Thursday to Tuesday 8.30am to 6pm (5pm October to March)
and Wednesday 8.30am to 7pm (6pm October to March). The total opening hours per
week are therefore 60.5 in Winter and 67.5 in the Summer.
3.3
To prevent access to the site by vehicles carrying non household waste, the Council
employs various methods, such as an agency security guard to request proof of
residency in Poole, an Automated Number Plate Recognition System (to check for
repeated visits) and a height barrier set at 2.1 meters which is in place six days a week
(not on a Wednesday).
3.4
The control of commercial waste is important because free access to the HWRC
means that the cost of waste disposal that a business or trader should pay is otherwise
passed to the local council taxpayer. Analysis undertaken has concluded that the
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current methods are weak and that significant commercial waste is still received at the
site.
4.
CONTEXT
4.1
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 gives the Council a duty to provide a facility for
residents to dispose of their household waste, and for it to be available at all
reasonable times (including at least one period on a Saturday or Sunday if not falling in
Christmas Day or New Years Day).
4.2
The site is open every day (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day)
and is used by more than 200,000 visitors annually. This is broken down per day in a
six month period as:
Winter (October – March)
Monday
15906
Tuesday
13544
Wednesday
14107
Thursday
12563
Friday
13030
Saturday
19661
Sunday
20158
Total
108969
Summer (April – September)
Monday
20329
Tuesday
17373
Wednesday
20660
Thursday
15503
Friday
16437
Saturday
21698
Sunday
22465
Total
134465
4.3
In considering options as to how to make further savings and efficiencies consideration
has been given to the opening hours of the site.
4.4
Examples of how other Councils have moved away from seven day a week HWRC
operations:
Blackpool (Unitary with one HWRC i.e. similar to Poole) – Recently changed to six
days a week operation by closing every Thursday and reducing opening hours to 10:00
to 15:45, a total of 34.5 hours opening per week.
Leicestershire (County with fourteen HWRC’s) – Summer have all sites open from
09:00 to 19:00, a total of 70 hours opening per week, but in Winter the opening is from
09:00 to 16:00 and most sites open for only five days. The County normally have seven
of fourteen sites open on weekdays and all open at weekend, a total of 35 hours
opening per week per site.
South Holland District (District within Lincolnshire County – one HWRC in a County
network of fourteen) – Summer opening is 08:00 to 16:00, a total of 56 hours opening
per week, and in Winter the site is closed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, a
total of 28 hours opening per week (their residents still have access to other County
sites if they travel further, although all sites are closed at some point during the week).
4.5
As any reduction in opening hours or closing the site for a day will not reduce the
amount of waste residents have to dispose of, the likely consequence is that it will
make the site busier at other times and the same total amount of waste will arrive at the
HWRC resulting in no saving in waste disposal costs.
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4.6
The Council is seeking to minimise the effects of budget cuts on its residents and
would prefer not to follow the examples of others in this case. Therefore as an
alternative, Officers were asked to explore other methods by which we might make
savings in relation to the operation of the HWRC.
5.
RESTRICTING ACCESS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
5.1
There are limited restrictions on access to the HWRC mentioned in 3.3 above. The
current restrictions involve interaction between a member of staff and the vehicle driver
to try and identify any waste that is from a commercial source and should not be
entering the HWRC. It is very difficult to disprove a statement that the waste is from
their residential property, and the information that could assist this assessment such as
analysis of ANPR data to check the number and frequency of visits is only available
after the event, and after the vehicle has deposited the waste.
5.2
Analysis of what type of vehicles entered the HWRC was carried out over a week by
observation.
5.3
On a typical weekday approximately 10% of vehicles entering the HWRC are
commercial vans, 17% are people carriers or 4x4 type vehicles and 73% are traditional
cars.
5.4
On a typical Saturday or Sunday approximately 17% of vehicles entering the HWRC
are commercial vans, 21% are people carriers or 4x4 type vehicles and 62% are
traditional cars.
5.5
On a typical Wednesday (when there are no height restrictions) approximately 30% of
vehicles entering the HWRC are commercial vans, 16% are people carriers or 4x4 type
vehicles and 54% are traditional cars.
5.6
Initial estimates from waste analysis indicate that a normal car on average brings
40kgs of waste to the HWRC, but the actual average of total waste from the site
divided by the total number of vehicles is 75kgs, with the larger carrying capacity of
vans likely to have increased this average. The total amount of waste deposited at the
HWRC is 18,000 tonnes, and using the analysis of types of vehicles a conservative
estimate has been made that 3,000 tonnes of total waste on the site has been
deposited by a commercial type van.
5.7
It is unknown how many households in Poole only have commercial vehicles as their
sole family vehicle to take their own household waste to the HWRC (i.e. Sign and non
sign written vans, trucks, flatbeds and pick-ups, that have not been adapted for rear
passengers), but most reasonable estimates from observations would appear this to be
a small number.
5.8
Revenue saving can be made by reducing visits by commercial vans without effecting
access to residents who only have access to such vehicles. Many Councils do this
through operating a permit system (either annual, or limiting number of visits), and this
can be a manual system although there is potential to simplify these systems by linking
directly with the ANPR system.
5.9
SWOT analysis attached as Appendix 1.
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6.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1
If only a half of the 3,000 tonnes identified in 3.6 above was not from genuine residents
with household waste, it would save the disposal costs of 1,500 tonnes of waste, and if
taking an average disposal cost of £50 per tonne (average of landfill, green, wood and
soil and rubble disposal cost), this would equate to a £75,000 saving to the Council.
6.2
Potential additional costs of introducing a permit scheme may be incurred but we
believe the identified savings are a conservative estimate and additional savings could
fund any additional costs. This would be analysed further in a business case.
7.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1
Section 51 (paragraph 1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) gives the
Council, acting as the Waste Disposal Authority, the duty to arrange for a place to be
provided where residents in its area may deposit their household waste free of charge.
7.2
Section 51 (paragraph 2) of the EPA to arrange for the place provided in paragraph
one is situated either within an area of an authority, or is reasonably accessable to
persons resident in it’s area, and is available at all reasonable times (including at least
one period on the Saturday or Sunday, excluding Christmas Day and New Years Day).
7.3
Section 51 (paragraph 3) of the EPA allows the Authority at places provided under the
duty in paragraph 1 to be available for deposit of household or other controlled waste
by other persons on such terms as to payment (if any) as the Authority determines.
8.
EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
8.1
The site is available and accessible to all residents within the Borough as well as those
with a permit from Dorset County Council.
8.2
Assistance is given to those customers that request it to help to move waste from their
vehicle to the collection containers.
8.3
A full Equalities Impact Assessment will be carried out during development of the
business case with regards to the impact of the option on the needs and requirements
of protected characteristics under equalities legislation.
8.4
An initial equalities screening has identified that the option may have implications that
will need to be examined with regard to equality legislation, the Councils Fairness for
All scheme and our requirements to meet the three aims of the Public Sector Equality
Duty.
SHAUN ROBSON
Head of Environmental & Consumer Protection Services
Contact Officer:
David Rickards, Waste Disposal and Contracts Manager, d.rickards@poole.gov.uk
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Appendix 1 – Analysis for restricting commercial vans
Strengths





Weaknesses

A permit scheme will still allow free
access to Poole residents to dispose of
Household Waste and therefore will
not be seen as a cut in service
Commercial companies/ traders who
continually use the site will be severely
restricted compared to open access as
now
Decision on whether genuine
household waste or not is done
proactively before vehicle visits site,
whereas we currently rely on an
inspection by security on site which
can easily lead to confrontation
Many Councils currently operate a
permit scheme of some sort so
learning and knowledge can be gained
from others including Dorset CC.
Is fair to legitimate business who
already pay waste disposal costs
Opportunities


A permit scheme can involve
increased administration which has to
factored in cost savings
Threats

Our current arrangements with Dorset
County Council relies on us validating
their permit system by use of ANPR
system which can be unreliable and
therefore increases Poole’s costs – our
own permit system could be used to
incorporate more co-operation with
neighbouring authorities
Could divert businesses currently
disposing of waste in the resident part
of the site to paying to dispose of the
waste by using our weighbridge,
thereby increasing commercial income

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Could be seen by residents as
bureaucratic interference in our duty to
allow free access to the site
Could lead to increase in fly tipping by
unscrupulous traders