BDR Waste Partnership

1. Welcome

The chair welcomed members to the meeting, including a new member from Bolton on Dearne, and reported on the resignation of another CLG member for personal reasons.

2. Apologies

3. Minutes of last meeting on 2nd September

Were approved as a true record.

4. Issues arising

There were no issues arising.

5. Chairmanship of CLG

Stratiji thanked the acting chair for stepping in at short notice at the end of 2019. A new chair for 2020 now needed to be elected, and the acting chair had indicated he would be prepared to continue if he had the support of the CLG membership. CLG members are to be asked for their views via email, and could nominate others or themselves. The acting chair also suggested that for the first time the CLG also elect a vice chair. This was agreed.

Action: Stratiji to contact CLG members to canvass their views on the chairmanship by a given deadline, then proceed with the election of a vice chair.

6. Complaints update

The Renewi Contract Director reported on complaints received during September, October and November. In September there were 19 complaints about odour and 1 about flies; October 18 about odours; November 6 about odours (only two of which were substantiated by the Environment Agency). A lot of testing and analysis had been carried out and changing 25% of the media in the line 1 biofilter had made odour removal more efficient. The remaining 75% would be changed in the next few weeks and further tests carried out. This had been agreed with the Environment Agency, and it was hoped to complete the work by the end of February. In response to a question from the chair, he reported that the complaints were spread over a radius of about a mile, with the furthest complaints from Mexborough. A CLG member felt the restricted location and the nature of the odours suggested they could be coming from a smallholding adjacent to the facility. The BDR Manager stressed that complaints were not being ignored and the Environment Agency had issued newsletters to keep complainants informed.

7. 3SE update

The Renewi Contract Director reported that new fire improvement measures installed had been successfully tested and everything was ready for a switch-over to the new system on 14/15 December. However, the final switch-over would take place at the end of January after all staff had undergone training. A shredder cutting table had been replaced, resulting in a six day outage, and a second shredder table was scheduled for replacement in March. FM2 had begun taking waste in early November and would take RDF from 16th December. The Manvers facility would be supplying to both FM1 and FM2. In response to a question from the chairman, there was a long discussion about the impact of the recent heavy rain and flooding which resulted in potential funding and difficulties in accessing the facility via the only entrance on Bolton Road. In the event, access was maintained but lessons had been learned and a number of measures implemented to ensure fewer problems in the event of more extreme weather in the future.

8. BDR update

The BDR Senior Contracts Manager praised the efforts of the Renewi team in response to problems caused by the bad weather and said their prompt actions had been appreciated by the three councils. He reported that the Government’s Environment Bill was currently on hold due to the forthcoming General Election. Discussions were taking place about how the contents of the Bill would impact on joint working by the three BDR authorities and Sheffield. The BDR Manager felt that climate change would be high on the agenda for future working and would be at the forefront of policies. In response to a query from a CLG member about where recycling material goes to and how it gets there, there was an assurance that strict checks were made on re-processors. These checks were not just on licences and permits, but on environmental practice and ethical responsibility. There was a discussion about plastics and although it was acknowledged they were a major environmental problem, it was pointed out that a totally plastic free environment was not practical and some plastic alternatives have not yet been fully tested and could have worse environmental consequences.

9. CELO update

The Assistant CELO reported that 35 It’s a Rubbish Adventure and education sessions had been held, reaching 1,420 young people across BDR, with three more sessions planned for this week. Feedback was 92% positive, and more sessions were scheduled for January and February. Another site tour for members of the public would be held on 13th February, with three time slots available. In November, a successful social media campaign on Love Food Hate Waste had been combined with events in Doncaster attended by more than 150 people. More social media and traditional print and broadcast media publicity was planned to promote less waste and more recycling over the Christmas period. Renewi’s new Waste Less South Yorkshire website (www.WasteLess-SY.co.uk) had been launched on 1st November with the aim of educating about waste and recycling. The website was accompanied by regular social media posts which were attracting a good following. Feedback from this year’s Renewi Corporate Social Responsibility Fund had been very positive and this would be used to launch next year’s Fund. The CELO outlined the criteria for applications for the £6,000 Fund. A workplan for the following year was being drawn up and it was hoped to undertake a number of projects including home composting, textiles, food waste and re-use. In January the CELO and Assistant CELO would be competing against each other to have a plastics free week.

10. Communications update

Stratiji reported on an article in the Dearne Valley Weekender at the beginning of October about fly complaints. Figures had been taken from the BDR Manager’s regular report which is a public document and the article did question whether all the flies were from the facility, and outlined measures being taken to address the issue. Press releases and social media were issued on Recycle Week and the launch of the new Waste Less South Yorkshire website. In November there was some positive publicity in the Barnsley Chronicle after the Body Shop issued a press release naming Barnsley as one of the top ten towns and cities in the North of England for the amount of plastic recycled this year. In December, Rotherham Advertiser carried an article praising Rotherham Council for carrying out what is believed to be the largest seizure of vehicles associated with flytipping in the UK. A total of 15 vehicles were confiscated from a Sheffield man and his son for a flytipping spree across Rotherham and North East Derbyshire. The father was jailed for two years at Sheffield Crown Court. The tough action and sentence were welcomed by CLG members who hoped they would deter other flytippers.

11. Any other business

A CLG member placed on record their appreciation of Stratiji’s work with the group over the year.

12. Date, time and venue for the next meeting

This will be on Monday 3rd February, 7pm at the Visitor Centre