Agenda item

To receive an update report (enclosed) by the Waste and Recycling Manager associated with the roll-out of the new service.

11:45 – 12:15

The Lead Member for Highways and the Environment introduced an update report (previously circulated) on the roll out of the new Waste Service Remodelling Project.

The report was to inform the Communities Scrutiny Committee of the current progress of the project and to highlight the risk around the timely approval of the operational permit required for the new Denbigh Waste Transfer Scheme.

The Project’s Corporate Executive Team (CET) lead officer explained to Members that the new Waste Service was the biggest operational change delivered by the Council for many years and had been many years in planning to get to this stage.

The new service would include recycled waste being collected weekly in separated containers and residual household waste being collected monthly.

The main issue currently was obtaining the operational permit which required to be granted by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), without this permit the Waste Transfer Station could not operate.  It was expected that the permit would be granted in Spring 2024. The Council had submitted the application form for the permit for the Denbigh Waste Transfer Depot in January 2023 however, there had been a delay with NRW issuing permits due to a back log. This had now been resolved, the process which was expected to take up to 4 months to complete was now underway and weekly positive discussions were continuing with NRW.  Any concerns raised during these meetings would be escalated immediately to Lead Member and CET Lead Officer level.

The new Waste Service Remodelling Service had a planned roll out from June 2024 with the depot being completed by December 2023.

Going forward there was a focus on recruiting staff and delivering the new containers to all households in the county.

The Project Team would be attending all MAG meetings in February/ March 2024 to give further detail on the roll out of the Project in their areas.

The Chair thanked the Lead Member and the Project Executive Lead Officer for their update and questions were welcomed from Members.

Members stated that a recent visit to the new Denbigh waste depot was very beneficial and requested another visit prior to the roll out of the service.

Members queried the change to electric wagons under the new service and questioned who was responsible for the cost of them. The Project Executive lead officer stated that the new service required a whole new fleet of wagons to deal with the kerbside sort containers within the new Recycling Service.  However, current residual waste vehicles would still be suitable for delivering that service as the service model was not changing, only the frequency of service provision.  Whilst more electric vehicles had been introduced into the fleet, the fleet was not entirely electric as there was a need to ensure robustness for all refuse collection rounds in the county.

Members registered their concerns regarding the potential backlash of complaints from the public that were anticipated and stated that this was not highlighted enough within the report.  The Project Executive lead officer assured members that there was an understanding that residents would have some concerns about the change. In the New Year (January 2024) planned communications would be rolled out 6 months before the implementation. Other authorities who already had transitioned to the new model Waste Recycling Service had stated that there were concerns at the start of the roll out. However, once residents understood the new system residents preferred it.

Members questioned the total cost of the roll out of the project. The Project Executive lead officer stated that the Project was costing circa £22 million. Due to the current financial climate predicted costs had increased. £12 million of funding had been given from Welsh Government, with the remainder of the costs being met from within Service reserves and through Prudential Borrowing. It was stated that the cost of running the new service, once fully operational, would be less than the recycling service currently in place. 

The Lead Member and officers acknowledged that, at present, the greatest risk to the timely roll-out of the new Service lay with the granting of the permit for the Waste Transfer Station by NRW.  Although there was not a Plan ‘B’ or a contingency plan in place to instigate if there was a delay with the permit’s granting, the Lead Member and officers were confident given the regular discussions underway with NRW both locally and nationally that the permit would be granted in time.

Members stated and agreed that there was a need to be positive about the new Waste Service and work with officers to inform the public.

The Chair thanked the Lead Members and the Project Executive lead officer for their report.

Following a detailed discussion, the Committee:

Resolved:  subject to the above observations and the answers given to the questions raised -

(i)             to acknowledge the progress made to date with the Project’s delivery, including the efforts made to secure the timely approval of the operational permit required for the new Denbigh Waste Transfer Station; and

(ii)           that as part of its consideration it had read, understood, and taken account of the recently updated Well-being Impact Assessment, attached at Appendix 1 to the report.