Second Domestic Bin Review 2024
Argyll and Bute Council · 20 June 2024
Back to Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee — 20 June 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE ROAD AND INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES 20 JUNE 2024 SECOND DOMESTIC BIN REVIEW 2024 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 In 2016, the Council approved a policy to move to three weekly general waste (green bin) and fortnightly recycling (blue bin) collections. This policy change was introduced to encourage more recycling which would bring significant environmental benefits and also to reduce the amount of general waste taken to landfill. Landfill has both an environmental and financial implication, currently landfill tax costs the Council in excess of £3m per annum. 1.2 With the Biodegradable Municipal Landfill Ban (BMW) coming into place in January 2026, the advancement in technology and the Council introducing route optimisation, now is considered to be a good time to consider a review of all second domestic bins to all householders in all areas of Argyll and Bute’s waste collection service. 1.3 A review will provide an opportunity to reduce the number of households receiving a second domestic waste bin collection, who are not entitled to receive this service. Alongside the review, information will also be provided that gives advice on how to produce less green bin waste by recycling more and remind customers that they are entitled to an additional blue bin (for co- mingled recyclable materials excluding glass), free of charge should they require it. 1.4 This report provides an update to the report considered by the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee in March 2024 which can be viewed here at item 9: Agenda for Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday, 21 March 2024, 10:30 am - Argyll and Bute Council (argyll-bute.gov.uk) 2.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee: i. endorse the second domestic bin review and; ii. note the progress made regarding the publicity and the timeframe and
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that further updates will be provided as the review progresses. 3.0 DETAIL 3.1 In June 2016, the Council considered a report proposing an operational service procedure and which provided operational detail to support the Policy that the Council agreed at its meeting on 11 February 2016 as part of Service Choices. The full report can be viewed here: ARGYLL & BUTE COUNCIL (argyll-bute.gov.uk) and the service procedure is appended to this report at Appendix 1. 3.2 Disposal of general waste has both environmental and cost implications. Whilst the existing PPP contract for part of Argyll and Bute processes material via a Mechanical Biological Treatment plant (which takes out of the waste stream some materials which can be recycled or composted), this process is expensive and is not an approved treatment type beyond the BMW Ban. As such we don’t encourage the use of second green bins because our focus is on recycling, however, we understand that, for some people, a second general waste bin may be needed. We will consider a second green bin if: • There are five or more people in a household • Someone in a household has a medical condition which means more waste is generated 3.3 There appears to have been some confusion as to whether households with babies in nappies are eligible for a second bin. The criteria noted in the paragraph above is what we work too and therefore a second green bin is not provided for households with babies in nappies. 3.4 Second blue bins (for co-mingled recyclable materials excluding glass) are available free to all households who are producing more recycling material than will fit in a single bin. The co-mingled recyclable material is taken to be processed and reused – this both reduces the amount of virgin materials which are required and also reduces the amount of material taken to landfill, both of which have environmental and financial benefits. 3.5 Prior to the roll out of the review, there will be a social media campaign and additional information added to the Council’s website explaining that the review of second domestic bins is being progressed with the main aim of reducing the amount of general waste, encouraging more recycling and as a result making both environmental and financial savings. 3.6 A study carried out by the Operations team has highlighted that there are approximately 3,382 additional domestic bins across all areas, this amounts to an additional 57,494 uplifts of domestic waste per annum. The information on the reasons for second bins held in our system only goes back to 2021 and it notes that there was 146 bins made available to families of 5 or more, 406 bins made available due to medical conditions and 513 bins provided for
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children in nappies (which as noted above, is not one of the core criteria). We will make contact with all of these households, to check the information remains current and in the case of children in nappies, advise that a second bin will not be uplifted. 3.7 Given that the Council collect bins from over 48,000 households, the process of no longer collecting non-eligible second bins will be challenging, however, when the routine optimisation system is functioning, it will be easier to identify locations where second bins are eligible. Where second bins are present, but not eligible, residents will be notified and the second bins will not be collected. 3.8 The service has been working closely with colleagues in the Council’s Customer Engagement and Transformational Team to create a new function that will allow automatic reviews for the need for a second domestic waste bin to take place. Automated templates have been created which will record information including customer responses and reasons for additional bin. 3.9 Phase 1 of the review will commence on 1 July 2024, this will be a small batch of 50 to 60 households, this will allow us to gauge the number and type of enquiries received and identify any issues raised. Further phases will proceed on 1 August, 1 September and 1 October. Review Timeline Stage Completion Date Ongoing liaison with Customer Services via a workshop session regarding possibilities and to also understand current levels of demand Commenced and ongoing Updating of records for all approved second green bins, where possible due diligence on ongoing eligibility for second green bins Commenced and ongoing Publicity and timeframe for roll out to be prepared June EDI Committee Publicity campaign advising of any agreed output from EDI Committee To commence following EDI Committee June 2024 Checking and verifying of second green bins and where second bins are not eligible July 2024 onwards Notification batches go out with a two week completion / return date. With a minimum of 5 batches to be sent July – October we have to allow for the applications to be returned and verified.
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Review to be completed by end of 2024. Rollout of notification for any non-approved second green bins and actively managing this through the deployment of warden resource. Estimated start January 2025 Completion date to be confirmed pending no. of unauthorised second green bins to be dealt with. 3.10 Zero Waste Scotland, on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council, have recently carried out a waste composition analysis on Islay and in Oban. The draft report from this is currently being considered and will be shared with Members in due course. The purpose of the composition analysis is to provide an understanding of the typical waste that is being disposed of in residential bins. This intelligence can then be used in marketing and publicity campaigns to further reduce the amount of general waste and increase recycling levels. Composition analysis also provides information which would be required by SEPA to confirm whether or not the general waste collected in Argyll and Bute can be processed in Energy from Waste (EfW) plants without any pre- treatment requirement. In addition, we are in the process of procuring specialist Artificial Intelligence (AI) cameras which will be trialed on a small number of refuse collection vehicles. These cameras will record information and will provide further intelligence of the composition of our waste stream. 4.0 CONCLUSION 4.1 This report proposes that a review of second bins is carried out and in line with the Policy agreed in June 2016. All eligible second green bins must be identified and non-eligible second domestic bins will cease to be collected. This will help to reduce the amount of domestic waste presented at kerbside, encourage residents to increase recycling and reduce the amount of material which is currently processed for landfill. 4.2 Further updates on the review will be presented to future meetings of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee. 5.0 IMPLICATIONS 5.1 Policy – As per the Policy agreed in June 2016 at the introduction of 3 weekly waste collections. 5.2 Financial – It is expected that there will be future waste collection and disposal savings as a result of this exercise. 5.3 Legal – None known. 5.4 HR – None known. 5.5 Fairer Scotland Duty: None known. 5.5.1 Equalities - protected characteristics – None known. 5.5.2 Socio-economic Duty: None known.
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5.5.3 Islands – None known. 5.6 Climate Change – Reducing waste currently processed for landfill and increasing recycling. There should also be a slight reduction in fuel used for vehicles used in the waste collection and disposal process. 5.7 Risk – Representation from individuals who may lose a second bin service 5.8 Customer Service – Residents may have become dependent on their second general waste bin. Detailed communications will need to be carried out to keep citizens involved with this proposal and the reasons it is being progressed. 5.9 The Rights of the Child (UNCRC) – refuse collection and recycling can have environmental benefits and contribute to the positive future of young people. Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services: Kirsty Flanagan Policy Lead for Roads, Transport and Amenity Services: Councillor John Armour May 2024 For further information contact: Jim Smith, Head of Road and Infrastructure Services jim.smith@argyll-bute.gov.uk Tom Murphy, Operations Manager tom.murphy@argyll-bute.gov.uk