Recycling and Waste Collection Service - St Helensmoderngov.sthelens.gov.uk/documents/s14192/Presentation - Recycl… · recycling of 50% by March 2015 Long term will reduce a remodelled

St Helens CouncilEnvironmental ProtectionSt Helens CouncilEnvironmental Protection

Recycling and Waste

Collection Service

Environment & Safer Communities Overview & Scrutiny Panel – August 2012


IntroductionWhy change & options for change: High Level Review

What works best: All feasible options considered

The Disposal Authority: Inter-relationship with St Helens as Collection Authority

Best solution for St Helens: costs & savings: All collection services, all properties

How will a new service look: Learning from best practice

Workforce and Contractual

Conclusions


Why ChangeLandfilling is becoming more expensive: Cost escalator £8

per tonne each year on landfill tax

Legal target for UK to hit with fine for Council’s if do not: (part of Localism Act July 2012)

Cannot hit target unless collect more products: We need to tackle most things in the bin to achieve 50% recycling

No change is not an option: Will fail to achieve target and will be fined if no change.


Why ChangeNeed to establish most cost efficient solution to all collections:

Needs to look at all collection services to integrate tasks

Service needs Recycling as the focus.

Adopt the Best Environmental solution: Current cost of carbon when traded is £12/tonne rising to £16/tonne by 2014. Not part of Carbon Reduction Scheme yet, but will be added in time.


Options

1. Collection of a lot of things every 2 weeks Alternate Weekly Collection (Wirral).

2. Making recycling the focus, collect more often (weekly)By separating at kerbside and sending direct to users of products (like Sefton)

3. Making recycling the focus, collect more often (weekly)By unmixing the collected products at a Materials Recycling Facility and then sending them onward to a processing facility (as Liverpool and Knowsley, who collect recycling every 2 weeks at the moment)

Although there are many variations, only 3 basic Long Term Options are available

[Knowsley have taken a decision to move to a managed weekly collection of recyclable when capital is available (Committee February 2011)]


What Works Best

Recycling more often (weekly) increases collected material.

Offering a wide range of products to be recycled helps.

The information you give residents is key.

Quality of product from kerbside separation is good. (Any rejection is for one property not a full load.)

Kerbside separate collection is the cheapest solution, because co-mingled is highly dependent on gate fee.


What Works Best

National Research by Waste Resources Action Plan (WRAP) shows co-mingled usually twice cost per tonne of kerbside separation.

Locally: (2010/11 figures)

Knowsley £53/tonne general recyclables (co-mingled)£400/tonne for food collections (separatecollection)

St Helens £26/tonne general recyclables (separatedat kerbside)£6.25 cost of kerbside sort per house


What Works BestCo-mingled collection is more expensive than separated at theKerbside, therefore, is not the best commercially available.

When market tested together kerbside wins.

Co-mingled will require larger Capital Investment for St Helens• Needs new full size wheelie bins for 80,000 properties to

collect all dry recycling together.

• Need to change the size or renew all the collection vehicles, so can collect as many products in one go.

• More expensive to buy, more to run and need more of them.


What Works BestEvidence shows the Merseyside Authorities Co-mingled collections, have “recycling” rejected because of quality.

Average rejection from facilities at Bidston & Gillmoss is about 20% of full loads are rejected. This covers those loads turned away and the residue remaining at the end of treatment which goes to a landfill.

St Helens CouncilEnvironmental Protection


Disposal AuthorityHas an agreed levy mechanism to charge the districts. (Legally obliged to “gift” our waste to MWDA)

Has some capacity to take extra co-mingled with the 2 facilities. (Current proposals mean that MWDA has only 2 possible treatments: Energy from Waste and Material Recycling Facilities.

St Helens currently sorts its own recycling, so the charge to the Council is less to reflect this. It receives a “recycling credit” as it is doing the recycling.

Additional levy cost to St Helens if co-mingle and achieve 50% recycling is approximately £0.570 m extra per year.



Disposal AuthorityIf continue separated at kerbside collection Landfill Tax and the levy will both reduce substantially over time:

Each tonne that does not go to landfill saves about £100. If achieve diversion from landfill by recycling to the target of 50% would reduce landfill charge by

8,200 tonnes * £100 = £820,000


Best Solution for St Helens(when all new services bedded in)

Option Vehicles/Crews

RevenueImpact

£m

CapitalInvestment

£m

Ranking

Managed weekly kerbsideSeparated Collection(Merged Collection of up to 9 products inc Food)

19 Cost Saving0.25m

1.7m 1

Co-mingled Managed Weekly Collection,inc Food

21 Extra 0.65m 3.3m 2

All other options fail to achieve 50% national recycling target and incur fine of £2m – 7m for medium sized Council


Best Solution for St HelensManaged kerbside collection option requires least Revenue and Capital and achieves recycling target.

Potential for hybrid vehicles exists in this option, with low emissions and the total number of vehicle visits is reduced to a minimum.

Local re-processing of the recycling collected

• Chamber of Commerce encouraging development of local Anaerobic Digestion Plant

• The Manchester Waste Partnership & large private sector developments such as Ineos Chlor involve Laings& Viridor as a Joint Venture to deliver the facilities


Best Solution for St HelensKerbside Collection Managed Weekly Collection achieves recycling of 50% by March 2015Long term will reduce a remodelled refuse and green collection round from 11 to 9 No.

Recycling rounds will grow 8 – 10 No. (weekly service)

Recycling will be moved from the brown bin into the kerb sort recycling vehicle, (dry recyclables and food waste)

Saves on landfill tax element of the levy > £0.5m(by recycling about 8,200 tonnes more)


How will a new service lookUse standard refuse vehicles for : Green waste recycling

: Brown landfill collection

(over a 2 week period)

Use of kerb-sort vehicles : Collects all dry recyclable

and food (each week)

New collections for cardboard (inc terraced), covers any remaining green waste collections

Adjust for terraced locations like Town Centre, West Park


How will a new service look

New Communal Recycling & Recycling on the Go solutions also to be provided, subject to a successful trial (On the Go ispart of the National Government’s Waste Strategy to recycle more from streets and public places)

Incentives to local areas where communal services add value to recycling (eg schools reduce bills by recycling more and costs of disposal come down).

How will a new service look

Collected every week

How will a new service look:A single pass collects as much as possible

1 visit collects up to 9 products


Workforce & ContractualCouncil fleet size would reduce by minimum of 3 vehicles

Work opportunities for recycling activity would increase.

“Recycling Service” not Waste Collection

Flexibility still exists with Agency Pool to effect changes if retained at present level

Recycling services would be each week, all year round, taking into account of Bank Holidays

Green collection would be retained all year round (other Councils stop these in Autumn/Winter)


Workforce & Contractual

Bank Holiday schedule to provide “full” weekly service

Align contracts of employment with any changes to service provision

5 day operational pattern would continue to be the norm



Current private sector contractor collects 40,000 properties per week (meaning the whole borough is covered in two weeks). This contract ends March 2013



Size of services contract may require market test (or reverse TUPE) but probably only demonstrable fully, if the market is tested

Purchase of specialist vehicles may require full European Procurement Regulations Tender Exercise: Waiting list to build them as demand is high at present.

Early adoption of trial areas may be possible through negotiation with existing contractor. (Already used one of the vehicles in Borough to check technical capability)


ConclusionsLeast cost solution is kerbside separation (minimise number of passes and maximise the material collected)

Provides weekly recycling service, including food waste, (within current revenue budget). Increased recycling and work opportunities.

Least Capital cost is kerbside separation (£1.6m less than co-mingled)

Least Carbon option

Capital Fund of £2m available to offset investment


ConclusionsAdditional Capital requirement for kerbside segregation may be required if re-design collection containers.

Use of Capital Receipts, Service Modernisation Fund or Prudential Borrowing is possible: Preferred option of funding to be evaluated as part of the business case.

Documents

Recycling and Waste Collection Service - St Helensmoderngov.sthelens.gov.uk/documents/s14192/Presentation - Recycl… · recycling of 50% by March 2015 Long term will reduce a remodelled