To review the performance of Waste Services and make recommendations for improvement – To follow.

The Committee received a presentation on Waste and Recycling Services performance (e.g. challenging existing customer service levels and proposing action to be taken to improve customer satisfaction and value for money), the discussion on the presentation maybe summarised below:

v  Noted that the Waste and Recycling Service provides all schools with mixed dry recycling and food waste bins and a free weekly collection service. Additional recycling or food waste bins can be requested and advice and support is available to help improve recycling.

v  Noted the Service has looked into incentivizing recycling, especially around schools as educating young people to become good recyclers is important for the long term.

v  Noted that Tower Hamlets is the most densely populated borough in England with 15,695 residents per square kilometre. Across the borough the number of people living in flats is increasing, and nearly all new build properties are purpose-built flats. Therefore, there is a need to act to find new and better ways to support residents in flats to waste less and recycle more.

v  Noted that recycling can be more difficult where there is no storage space for recycling bins, or where access for refuse vehicles is difficult. The Council needs to act now with nearly all new build properties in Tower Hamlets being flats.

v  Noted that recycling contamination occurs when materials are sorted into the wrong recycling bin (placing a glass bottle into a mixed paper recycling bin for example), or when materials are not properly cleaned, such as when food residue remains on a plastic yogurt container. 

v  Noted the establishment of the Recycling Champions where anybody over 18 who lives in Tower Hamlets or works for a housing provider or community organisation in Tower Hamlets and is interested in improving recycling and reducing waste can be a part of the change to help to spread the word about reducing, reusing, and recycling in Tower Hamlets! By becoming a Recycling Champion these volunteers can make a positive contribution to their neighbourhood and help the environment..

v  Agreed that recycling is a key part of the circular economy for reuse, reduce and recycle and bring about the following benefits including conserving natural resources, protects the ecosystems and wildlife, reduces demand for raw materials, saves energy, cuts climate change carbon emissions, creates jobs (green economy) and is cheaper that waste collection and disposal. It also helps the local authority to reduce its landfill costs and improve its contamination rates.

v  Commented that the number of missed collections has not really changed much since the service was outsourced or insourced, so it has not necessarily got worse, but it has not necessarily improved in terms of missed collections.

v  Noted that last year there had been mechanical breakdowns on the Underground Refuse System (URS) vehicles and it was not possible to get replacements for such specialist vehicles. However, LBTH now have four URS vehicles on the fleet and therefore the Waste and Recycling Service can have two operating at any one day one with two held in reserve. Consequently if there are any breakdowns, these two URS vehicles can be deployed quickly although there have not been any issue’s with the URLs vehicles recently.

v  Asked to be noted that they would like to see how LBTHmeasures its performance against other similar local authorities so as to discover if there is a gap in performance that can be closed by improving the Councils performance. It was felt that by studying other councils performance it can highlight what it takes to enhance the Waste and Recycling Service efficiency.

v  Agreed that recycling and being more sustainable is one of the best ways to positively impact the local environment e.g. waste is one of the main causes of the climate crisis and all local businesses; service providers and the Council need to have effective and practical waste management solutions.

v  Agreed that facilities management can benefit the Council by regularly revisiting programs for handling recyclable materials. Delivering these benefits means paying attention to the cost-effective management of a recycling program for properties within the LBTH portfolio e.g. stressing the quality of the material to be recycled. The marketplace for recycled materials is a buyer’s market, and the single biggest element that will destroy the marketability of products is contamination. Therefore, the Waste and Recycling and Facilities Management Services will be working together on a scheme to handle recyclable materials.

v  Agreed that good waste management is essential to protect the environment. As the Boroughs population grows, waste generation increases and if it is not properly addressed then this will not only cause environmental problems, but there is also the impact on people’s health and quality of life.

v  Noted that the Council has a zero tolerance approach with those who illegally dump waste because they think they can get away with it. Whether it’s a business or an individual, it is unacceptable behaviour. Fly tipped waste is a blight on the Borough and it is ultimately residents who have to pay the price of the costly collection of dumped rubbish on the local streets. Therefore, when an incident is reported to Waste and Recycling Services it needs to be dealt with promptly.

v  Noted that many residents have raised with the Committee Members that antisocial behaviour linked to the use of nitrous oxide, is a significant concern within their neighbourhoods.  Therefore, the Council has introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to tackle this issue and the Councils street cleaning teams are picking up discarded canisters from estates, parks, and streets.

v  Agreed that Waste and Recycling Services needs to continue to work closely with residents to clean up specific areas of litter caused by the use of nitrous oxide.

v  Noted that that Council has adopted the Reuse, Recycle and Waste Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) that sets out guidance for developers on how waste management should be addressed in proposals for new residential and mixed-use development. The SPD covers the entire borough and aims to re-examine and improve the way in which waste is produced and managed.

v  Agreed that given the fact that Tower Hamlets has the highest density of housing in London, and over the next ten years the population is projected to increase to 370,700 in 2028 requiring nearly 35,000 more homes in Tower Hamlets by 2028/29. These homes need to be built with better waste management systems to ensure that they provide a high level of amenity for occupants and minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill.

v  Noted that the Service is looking at what is the most appropriate time and frequency of cleaning in the Borough, and it will not necessarily be the same in every area as more cleaning is needed in certain parts than others.

v  Noted that changing the pattern of when waste and recycling is collected e.g. later in the night makes a massive difference and ends up helping the Service save money in the long term.

v  Noted the issues with the way that the Council manages recycling and bulk waste as there are only a limited number of facilities available to process the waste and recycling that are a practical distance from the Borough.

v  Noted that as LBTH gets high levels of contamination anybody who wants to manage recycling for the Council will build a factor of contamination into their into the price given to provide the service. Therefore it is important to get our contamination levels down by behaviour change and getting people to wash out pots and things like that and packaging and not put nappies and.

v  Noted that changing the pattern of when waste and recycling  (e.g. later in the night) will make a massive difference and helps save money in the long term.

v  Agreed that elected members also have responsibility to ensure that the that they remind the residents about the risks of contamination and fostering a better behaviour culture towards recycling.

In conclusion, the Chair thanked Councillor Kabir Hussain (Cabinet Member for Environment and the Climate Emergency); Dan Jones (Director of Public Realm ); Fiona Heyland (Environmental Services Improvement Manager); Catherine Cooke (Environmental Services Improvement TL) and those in attending for a useful debate on the performance of the Waste and Recycling Services.