BDR Waste Partnership

Attendance

Non-members

Apologies

Written updates from Renewi, BDR, the CELO and JWSMedia had been circulated previously. Brief summaries and further updates were given verbally at the meeting and CLG members had the opportunity to ask questions.

1. Welcome and introductions

The acting Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. Notes from the last meeting on 9 August 2022

These were agreed as a true record.

3. Issues arising

There were none.

4. Renewi BDR Ltd update

The Renewi BDR Contract Director summarised and updated his report. Moderate levels of Covid over the last five months averaging positive cases per month. Infections peaked at 10 cases in June dropping to two in September. Over the period the average absence rate due to Covid was 7%.

There has again been a reduction in Contract waste volumes over the last four months. Inbound tonnages are currently 4% lower than forecast with a total of 67885 tonnes received against a target of 70772 tonnes. The overall annual forecast was previously reduced from 217,000 tonnes to 214,000 tonnes. From November onwards the annual forecast has been reduced to 210,000 tonnes.

Recycling dipped slightly in the quarter to 14.40%. The performance was affected by lower fines recovery as a result of high stocks in the Anaerobic Digestion plant. Moisture loss has continued to perform well with the 4-month average at 30.20. %. The moisture loss forecast for the period was 30.94%.

Processing in the Anaerobic Digestion plant has been affected by a structural issue with the concrete in some sections of the walls. Renewi central engineering team are currently working on a rectification project which could take up to four months.

A campaign was launched in August by the Environmental Services Association of which Renewi is a member to raise awareness of lithium-ion batteries in waste. These items are commonplace in domestic waste and a now a major cause of fires in the waste industry.

Another review of shutdown frequency has been undertaken at Ferrybridge. The latest proposal shutdowns will take place at 15-month intervals in each facility, alternating between FM1 and FM2. The next shutdown in FM1 is planned for the end of March 2023 and FM2 in May 2023.

The CLG was informed that after the last CLG meeting in August nine odour complaints had been received about the site. The Environment Agency had responded and carried out a number of investigations. It had not found anything amiss on any of its visits to the site or surrounding localities.

CLG members discussed other possible sources of odour in the area. They were advised that if residents detected odour in the area in future they could use the BDR Renewi enquiries email address to raise the issue or call the office. Renewi Contract Director.

Action: Quarterly figures on waste received and amount recycled to be reported at each CLG meeting.

5. The Councils’ BDR Team

The BDR Team’s report was summarised. The BDR Councils have continued to successfully deliver waste services and collect waste streams as scheduled.

The Councils continue to see a lowering of household waste tonnages collected. The trend is now seeing that reduction taking the levels of household waste collected down to pre-Covid levels. It is becoming clear that more residents have returned to the workplace with less home working. The current cost of living crisis is seeing less waste produced as we all tighten our belts, make do and mend, and look to ensure we only buy what we need and throw away less unused food or fast fashion and cut back on luxuries.

Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) continue to deliver a full normal service and operate on winter hours. The Councils have finalised how they will procure their new HWRC Service Provision Contracts from October 2023. Barnsley and Doncaster are to jointly contract together for an 8-year contract, and it is anticipated that Invites to Tender will be issued within the next two weeks. Evaluation of Tenders will occur December to February, Contract Award due in March or April, and mobilisation of the new contract April to October (go-live of the new contract). Rotherham has decided to tender for a contract alone. RMBC are still finalising what Service Provision they wish and the length of contract but intend to award the contract to go-live with the new contract October 2023.

The Environment Bill entered UK law in November 2021 and secondary legislation from the Act is anticipated to be laid in Autumn/Winter 2022/23. It will be this secondary legislation that will drive policy and legislation changes which will have a major impact on Councils and how they have to deliver their waste collection and disposal services. After four major consultations around the Resource and Waste Strategy, the Government has still only published one set of findings and recommendations. The BDR Councils have lobbied the Government directly, highlighting that the delay in publishing responses to the consultation and any new or changed legislation requirements is seriously impacting the councils’ ability to plan, budget and maintain a continued high standard of service delivery in the future. It is hoped the remaining reports will be published in Autumn /Winter 2022/23.

CLG members enquired why Rotherham Council had chosen to go it alone with a HWRC contract. Members were concerned it would lead to inconsistencies across the BDR area and that residents outside of the Rotherham borough would not be able to use the Rotherham HWRC.

A CLG member asked why there were four collection bins for every household which caused bin storage problems for some residents. They were informed that waste segregation at source was key to efficient recycling. 

6. Community Education Liaison Officer  

The Assistant CELO summarised and updated the CELO report.  Due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Recycle Week was moved from September to October so that it did not fall in the period of mourning. Recycle Week took place 17th – 23rd October, we supported it with a series of social media posts which received 16,045 impressions and a press release for South Yorkshire.

We recently launched the second phase of the home composting campaign to encourage residents to consider composting their garden and food waste. This includes regular social media posts on Waste Less South Yorkshire accounts, blogs on the website and we will be running another giveaway to win one of 7 HotBin composters. So far, the campaign has received over 40,000 impressions and over 660 entries to the giveaway including some via email and one by post.

Community testing of reusable items is continuing with members of the community having tested and given honest feedback on beeswax wraps, Last Tissues, Ocean Saver cleaning products and Cheeky Wipes baby wipes.  The next item to be tested is Wild refillable deodorants.  We are also working on case studies on school uniform, community shed and community fridge projects with the intention of creating or sharing how to guides to help local groups to set up such projects in future.

We post regular content about reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting on our social media pages. You can follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The first phase of this year’s food waste campaign has been completed with initial waste composition, resident’s surveys, and distribution of the interventions all complete. The second phase of the work is beginning in mid-November with waste composition and resident’s surveys. This will then be followed up in March with a third round of waste composition and surveys. We will also be looking to run some focus groups to understand the relationship between people’s knowledge and food storage behaviours to better understand why there is such a disparity. The intention is that this will be followed up in 23/24 and 24/25 with a campaign focusing on food waste reduction and further testing.

We are currently in the process of creating the communications plan for the festive period which will include messaging about reducing waste, season specific topics such as Christmas trees and sprouts and guidance on recycling. This will be supported by two press releases one around waste and recycling and one around festive food waste. It is intended that these will be offered early to local radio etc to allow any interviews required to be conducted as early as possible.

Since April we have had 29 members of the public join our site tours. Numbers for our September tours significantly reduced due to the period of national mourning with several groups and individuals pulling out. Our November tours have a total of 11 people booked and there are still plenty of spaces available on out January and March dates.

Site tours and how to book

Interest in education sessions is slowly increasing as schools begin to return to normal. We are being asked to attend more careers and enterprise events in secondary schools and bookings from outside organisations such as Scouts are beginning to be made. We feel it will still be some time before the interest in the schools’ workshops returns to pre-COVID levels. If you want more information about the school workshops, please contact CELO.

Rebecca will be beginning her maternity leave in mid-January and is intending to be away for a year. We wish her well as she takes time to be with her growing family. Her departure will mean that we will shortly be looking at the work contained within the 22/23 CELO Plan to look at what adjustments will need to be made to reflect the reduced staffing level for the remainder of the year and what can be delivered in 23/24 as well. 

7. Communications update

JWSMedia summarised and updated their report. Communications support has continued to promote key recycling messages across BDR. A Press Release encouraging people to reuse or donate unwanted electrical items, include mobiles/IT equipment was picked up by BBC Radio Sheffield for a follow up interview with the CELO. We will be looking to work with Radio Sheffield to encourage Christmas recycling. A Press Release was issued for the delayed national Recycle Week in October - focussing on how individuals can make a difference and need to ensure the right waste goes in the right bin to avoid contamination.

A Press release about the launch of the autumn Hotbin competition has been issued to local, regional, and broadcast media to support the on-going social media campaign. A Press release was issued encouraging people to consider holding clothes swaps rather than throwing clothes away. All releases are posted on the BDR website and circulated to the three local authorities. We have continued to liaise closely with local authority comms and waste teams.

8. Any other business

A CLG member asked if there were any plans to install solar panels on the site as part of a commitment to reuse energy to power the plant. CLG was informed the plant currently generated around a third of the power used on site. Discussions were taking place with the Councils to install solar panels subject to financial, legal and planning consents in addition to any insurance considerations. The installation could see the plant generate up to 52% of its energy requirements.

A CLG member asked for clarification on whether Tetrapak waste could be recycled. A recent information leaflet about new refuse collection dates had stated it could not be recycled. Previous information had said it could.

Action - check on Tetrapak recycling status.

9. Date, time and venue for next meeting

This will be at the Visitor Centre at Manvers on Tuesday 16 May 2023 at 6pm. (To be confirmed)

The acting Chair noted the low attendance at the meeting and suggested an option for encouraging greater attendance in future.  CLG members agreed to move the CLG meetings to twice a year instead of the current four with the next meeting to be held in May. A provisional date of 16 May 2023 has been suggested – avoiding the two Bank Holiday weeks in early May.