ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
1 NOVEMBER 2006
ITEM 06
RECYCLING OR RE-USE OF FURNITURE
Report of the:
Director of Operations
Contact:
Steve Davies
Urgent Decision?(yes/no)
No
If yes, reason urgent decision required:
Annexes/Appendices (attached):
None
Other available papers (not attached):
None
This report informs the Committee of the arrangements in place to promote the re-use
of unwanted furniture.
Notes
RECOMMENDATION (S)
That the Council be recommended:
(1)
To note the infrastructure in place to support the re-use of
suitable items.
(2)
To urge Surrey County Council to provide a modern
Civic Amenity site in an environmentally acceptable
location within the Borough as soon as practical and in the
meantime to reinstate the furniture service at Longmead
as planned.
1
Implications for Community Strategy and Council’s Key Priorities
1.1
2
Implications for Committee’s Key Service Priorities
2.1
3
Measures to reduce the volume of waste created within the Borough support the
recycling strategy included within the Council’s Corporate Plan.
The actions detailed in this report will support the Committee’s Key Service
Priority of recycling.
Introduction
3.1
At the Council meeting of 26 September 2006 Councillor Colin Taylor, seconded
by Councillor Julie Morris moved the following motion for debate under Standing
Order 4:
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ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
1 NOVEMBER 2006
ITEM 06
“Furniture recycling or reuse:
The Council notes that currently surplus furniture may be:
 removed by the supplier of new furniture
 taken by the public to a recycling/transfer station
 removed by the Council for a fee as a “bulky” item
In the first case it may not be in a supplier’s commercial interests for the furniture
to be reused or recycled and in the other cases the furniture is liable to get
damaged or contaminated.
It further notes that schemes for recycling or reusing furniture have been
publicised recently by certain London Boroughs as “Furniture Banks”, which
make pre-used furniture available to people in need or on low incomes.
The Council therefore calls for a report on the possibility of operating such a
scheme, possibly in association with neighbouring London or Surrey Boroughs or
Districts.”
3.2
The Re-use of items has a significant part to play in the management of waste. If
an article is re-used for the purpose for which it was created, it is diverted away
from the waste stream altogether. Re-use thus differs from recycling, whereby
component materials are extracted and used for something else. Items with the
potential for re-use therefore either need to be prevented from entering the waste
stream, or extracted from it.
3.3
Routes currently in-place within the Borough to enable the prevention of items
from entering the waste stream, or enable their extraction from it, include:
3.3.1 Domestic kerbside collections. The extraction of items (for re-use) from
domestic kerbside collections is operationally difficult due to their size and
bulk. In most cases such items will not be disposed of in this way by their
owners due to these same factors.
3.3.2 Collection by private company. Many companies offer a collection service
for old items when supplying a new item to a household. In this case the
item may not enter the local waste stream.
3.3.3 Charities. Charity organisations are also active in this field. The British
Heart foundation and the Vine Project are two that are active locally. Both
will collect suitable items from the home free of charge. The British Heart
Foundation re-sells good quality furniture and electrical items, whilst the
Vine Project passes on furniture for use by families on low incomes.
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ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
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ITEM 06
3.3.4 Items delivered to civic amenity sites. Some articles with re-use potential
are delivered to civic amenity sites (in Epsom and Ewell the site is at
Longmead) or collected for a charge from the home of the householder
(civic amenity collections). Of these, furniture is easier to re-use, as there
are health and safety related constraints on the re-use of electrical goods
and equipment.
4
3.4
Civic amenity sites are run by waste disposal authorities. In Surrey this is the
County Council, and they therefore manage the Longmead site. In London, civic
amenity sites are run by the waste collection authority, thus providing them with
options for service configuration that are not available to this Borough.
3.5
In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on the sorting of material for
re-use and recycling at civic amenity sites, although in some places (including
Longmead) there are constraints imposed by the availability of land.
3.6
Until recently furniture was separated for re-use at the Longmead site, but this
service has been temporarily suspended due to problems with the contractor. The
service will be restarted in the New Year and will include material collected by the
Council through civic amenity collections.
3.7
Because this authority does not run civic amenity sites (which in two tier areas are
the responsibility of the County Council) it would be difficult for the Council to
establish its own furniture bank service. To transport furniture to another site or
Borough would have cost and environmental implications.
Proposals
4.1
Details of the services offered by the British Heart Foundation are available
through the Council’s website and links to information regarding the Vine Project
will be added shortly.
4.2
Surrey County Council recognises the problems at the Blenheim Road recycling
site. They have stated: “congestion arises due to the relatively small size of the
site compared with throughput. The configuration of the site does not encourage
recycling and this is reflected in the fact that it currently has the lowest recycling
rates of all civic amenity sites in Surrey”.
4.3
The County Council is looking to retain the transfer station at Blenheim Road and
to construct a modern purpose-built civic-amenity site elsewhere, although a site
has yet to be identified. It is proposed that in light of the current infrastructure
present to support re-use of items, and the difficulties in introducing a furniture
bank scheme into the Borough, that Surrey County Council be urged to provide a
modern facility within the Borough as soon as is practical.
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ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
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5
Financial and Manpower Implications
5.1
6
Re-use of furniture and other items can assist families on the lowest incomes.
Economic Well-being
8.1
9
None for the purposes of this report
Social Well-being
7.1
8
None for the purposes of this report
Human Rights and Other Legal Implications
6.1
7
ITEM 06
Re-use of furniture and other items can assist families on the lowest incomes.
Environmental Well-being
9.1
Removal of material from the waste stream through re-use reduces the amount of
material needing to be treated in other ways.
10 Risk Assessment and Conclusions
10.1
This Council supports the re-use of furniture and other material in accordance
with its responsibilities as a waste collection authority.
10.2
The Council supports the efforts of Surrey County Council to identify an
environmentally acceptable site for a modern Civic Amenity site in Epsom and
Ewell capable of accommodating facilities to support all aspects of re-use,
recycling, composting and diversion, as in the short-term supports the planned
reintroduction of the service separating furniture from the rest of the waste stream
at Longmead.
WARD(S) AFFECTED: ALL
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