To track the implementation of recommendations from the  scrutiny challenge session.

Members were reminded that Overview and Scrutiny held a challenge session on Wednesday 23rd September 2020 on how the Council applies evidence and best practice to influence resident behaviour change to boost recycling rates in the Borough.

The Committee

v  Agreed that recycling is vital to a circular economy as it feeds materials such as plastics, paper, metal, and glass back into manufacturing and reduces the need for virgin materials, saving both money and carbon in the process.

v  Agreed that LBTH needs to collaborate closely with residents to drive up recycling, creating actionable insights for the Council, housing providers and residents to help them recycle more  to drive awareness and behaviour change across the Borough.

v  Noted that food waste accounts for about half the weight of household rubbish in Tower Hamlets. When food waste is collected separately it can be turned in to something useful. The food waste collected from households in Tower Hamlets is taken to a special processing plant where it is turned in to compost and used by farmers as a fertiliser.

v  Agreed it is important for residents to understand what materials can and cannot be recycled can sometimes be confusing so by providing people with clear and concise information will help solve this issue. The first place to start should be making sure all collection points have clearly labelled which materials should be placed in each appropriate bin.

v  Noted that in certain parts of the Borough where we actually having to do extra collection or recycling and the Service collaborates very closely with  landlords.

v  Agreed that it was important to encourage people to collapse cardboard boxes to present recycling containers becoming overfilled.  Which is why the Council wants to do some really targeted communication work with residents. landlords, managing agents in order to make sure if there is anything we can do to support them  to recycle.

v  Noted that those residents with a purple wheelie bin or a large communal recycling bin, can empty recycling into the bin loose or use any clear sack. If residents do not have access to a purple bin, they can collect recycling sacks from Idea Stores and libraries.

v  Noted that clear sacks and food waste liners can be purchased from most supermarkets. 

v  Noted that Tower Hamlets has a remarkably diverse and changing population and faces considerable challenges improve recycling. 86% of the Boroughs population live in high rise properties or gated communities with limited storage space and properties with gardens (and therefore garden waste) are rare. Therefore, given that the biggest challenge is around flats that this where the biggest benefit is to be had from. To encourage participation and increase the recycling figures the basics need to be right and need to work alongside innovative ways of improving the take up of recycling across geographical areas and property types across the diverse population.

v  Agreed that much greater consideration also needs to be given to incentivising recycling and making sure that recycling becomes the norm in all households across the borough.

v  Noted that as part of the commitment to reduce single-use plastic, improve the quality of recycling and save money, the Council are proposing to roll out of reusable recycling bags for the reusable bags . These bags will reduce the amount of single use plastic and reduce the impact on the environment.

v  Noted that the recycling market prefers to receive the material loose, so removing plastic bags should reduce processing cost. In addition, reusable bags can be used over and over again so they will cost less to supply than the single use plastic bags in the longer term.

In conclusion, the Committee having (i) reviewed and noted the progress of the service action plan; (ii) considered areas of concern; and (iii) resident’s behaviour change on recycling the Chair thanked everyone for their contribution to the discussion which had been very useful the level of recycling has been a key issue for the Council for some time now, and the compounded further by the pandemic; vehicle breakdowns; the transition of bringing in the service back in House and improving the service especially in regard to recycling.