Agenda item

To consider a report by the Strategic Planning and Performance Officer (copy enclosed) presenting the findings and recommendations/action plan of the Use of Plastics Members Task and Finish Group for consideration prior to submission to County Council.

10.45 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.

The Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment introduced the report which had been produced by the Use of Plastics Task and Finish Group following a Notice of Motion (July 2018) to Council where it was resolved that the Council ‘supports in principle the reduction in the use of plastic but asks that it be referred to Scrutiny for detailed consideration and a further report back to Council’.

 

Councillor Emrys Wynne, Chair of the Use of Plastics Task and Finish Group detailed the work of the Group and considerations as to how best to meet the objectives set by Council.  It had been agreed to focus on what was achievable and in the first stage to remove single use plastic where possible in Denbighshire’s council offices.  Councillor Wynne proceeded to present the report findings and recommendations/action plan of the Group and explained how the Council could avoid and reduce its use of plastics in its own offices in a deliverable and sustainable way and he sought the Committee’s support for that report and its submission to County Council in January 2020.

 

Members’ attention was drawn to the proposed action plan which also included the impact of taking those actions and any savings made as a result – however the driver had been to reduce single use plastic and not to make savings.  Councillor Wynne proceeded to elaborate upon each of the proposed actions as follows –

 

·         stop the provision of plastic water cups at water coolers within council buildings

·         encourage the reuse of water bottles to refill at water coolers

·         remove water coolers altogether

·         stop the provision of cups at refreshment points within council buildings

·         staff campaign to ‘bring your own cup’ to work/office/meetings

·         remove refreshment stations altogether from council offices

·         reduce provision of plastic milk containers ‘jiggers’ at refreshment points  / plastic stirrers (not applicable) – wooden stirrers

·         promote behaviour change to either avoid or reduce plastic use to council staff

·         stop purchase of plastic stationery wallets in all services

·         remove vending machines completely

·         arrange consultation with School Forum to challenge ‘avoidance and reduction of plastics’ in our council offices.

 

The Committee was asked to support continuation of the Group to further explore and investigate options to avoid and reduce plastics in other areas of the Council (with the next focus on school catering), and to encourage staff to look at how to avoid or reduce plastics within the Council.  The remainder of the report highlighted ways to reduce plastic use.  Finally Councillor Wynne thanked the Strategic Planning and Performance Officer for producing the report and also welcomed a member of the public in attendance who had an interest in the environment and who had attended a recent talk he had given at a Friends of the Earth meeting.

 

The Committee welcomed the report and thanked the Group for their hard work in devising ways of reducing and removing plastic use and fully supported their continuation to identify measures to support more environmentally practices.

 

The following matters were raised during the ensuing debate –

 

·         the Committee was keen to publicise the good work being undertaken and in encouraging environmentally friendly practices and it was noted that in the event the recommendations were approved by Council a press release would be timely; the Scrutiny Coordinator also reported upon more general work to raise scrutiny’s profile and identify key messages and themes from meetings to highlight via the press office and social media

·         it was acknowledged that reduction in the use of plastics across the authority was a massive undertaking and therefore an incremental approach was proposed by the Group in order to focus on particular areas, initially where it was anticipated that maximum and timely results could be achieved, whilst also accepting that some areas would be more complex, require greater consideration and would be more difficult to address; to this end the next area proposed for consideration by the Group was school catering

·         the reduction/removal of plastics at leisure centres (which would be managed by Denbighshire Leisure Limited from April 2020) may be an area for the Group to consider at a later stage but in any event the new company was required to comply with council policies and therefore any future decision or direction in that regard would also apply to the new company – in the meantime it was hoped that leisure centres would operate in this spirit pending any formal policy

·         members supported the proposed recommendations as detailed within the report and use of the communications department to encourage both staff and visitors to bring their own mugs and snacks into the office and it was noted that Co-opted Member Kathy Jones had suggested a reminder to ‘bring your own mug’ could be put on the front of meeting agendas to further encourage that practice – it was noted that the intention was to provide visitors with china cups

·         the use of the communications department was considered key to publicising and promoting environmentally friendly practices and discouraging the use of plastics both within the council and in the wider community – highlighting the culture and aspirations of Denbighshire in this regard

·         reference was made to the difficulties of the Task and Finish Group in identifying the most appropriate areas to focus on, particularly given that the use of plastics by other departments was unknown, hence the focus on quick wins and maximum impact and the choice of school catering as the next area to consider

·         it was noted that the culture of the organisation was also a key consideration and in order to engage and focus staff it was suggested there may be merit in seeking the views/ideas of staff during appraisals with regard to reducing plastic within their departments or to provide a section within reports detailing what actions individual departments were undertaking to reduce plastic

·         it was noted that an incorrect date of February 2019 had been recorded on page 29 which would be amended to February 2020 for the report to Council

·         at the invitation of the Chair the member of the public present referred to the number of people coming into the council offices with single use plastic coffee cups from outside retailers which she felt should be discouraged.  Members agreed that this aspect could be covered within the proposed staff promotion campaign to ‘bring your own cup’ to work/office/meetings and discouraging the practice of bringing single use plastic cups into the building

·         it was confirmed that there would be engagement with staff through a number of channels and not just via trade unions

·         whilst not directly related to the report under consideration there was some discussion on how best to encourage residents and the public to adopt environmentally friendly practices and it was suggested that information could be included with council tax bills to households in the county – the links with other council work streams relating to the environment, including reducing carbon emissions and climate change was also highlighted and the need for focused public engagement whilst also acknowledging the Council’s limited remit in that regard.  It was agreed to advise the communications team of the outcome of scrutiny debate and recommendation to Council.

 

RESOLVED that the Committee recommends –

 

(a)       that the proposed recommendations/proposed action plan (Appendix 1 to the report) be submitted to County Council for consideration to ensure –

 

·         an action plan for a reduction in the use of plastics within Denbighshire County Council offices will be implemented within the Council

·         achievement of objectives within the action plan will demonstrate that the Council is taking a lead in Denbighshire in reducing the use of plastics

·         a reduction in the use of plastics by Denbighshire County Council will contribute towards the Environmental Priority contained within the Corporate Plan

 

(b)       that the Use of Plastics Members Task & Finish Group continue its work for a further 12 months with a view to proposing further actions in the area of: School Catering (which is currently out of scope in this proposal) plus broader procurement around plastic, and

 

(c)        the ‘avoidance and reduction of plastics within the Council’ be a work stream linked to the wider Climate Change and Ecological Emergency response.

 

At this juncture (11.50 a.m.) the committee adjourned for a refreshment break.