Tony WatsonBlackburn with Darwen BC

A return to weekly residual waste collections

The borough

Unitary authority located in East Lancashire

59,000 properties, over half are terraced with little or no gardens

25th most deprived borough in England

21 of 91 Lower Super Output Areas fall within the most deprived 10% in England

Over 20% ethnicity within the borough

2nd highest percentage in England of under 16s

240 litre wheeled bins introduced in 1987

Date line for recycling and alternate weekly collections (AWC)

AWC introduced in 2003/4 to 18,000 propertiesGreen / Residual waste alternate weeks

Boroughwide - paper collected in a bag, plus commingled glass, tins, cans and plastics collected fortnightly in a 55 litre box

Weekly recycling collections for paper and commingled collections introduced 2004/5

Cardboard added to boroughwide weekly paper collections in August 2006

24,000 properties added to AWC service in October 2006, without green waste collections – terraced properties

17,000 properties still on weekly residual

Transition to weekly residual collections

New political administration May 2007

October 2007 - 140 litre burgundy wheeled bin for residual waste to 17,000 properties. Commingled in grey 240 litre bin and collected fortnightly. 6,000 more green waste bins delivered.

Boroughwide weekly paper and card collections continue

February/March 2008, - 18,000 burgundy bins for residual waste rolled out

February/March 2008 paper, card and commingled collected in grey 240 litre bin emptied once a fortnight to 35,000 properties

October 2008 - 24,000 properties receive 140 litre burgundy bin and move to a fortnightly collection of paper, card and commingled recyclates in 240 litre bin

Recycling Rates (BV82a/b combined)

2002/3 11%

2003/4 18%

2004/5 23%

2005/6 24%

2006/7 27%

2007/8 Quarter 1 33% 2006/7 (27)

Quarter 2 35% (28)

Quarter 3 36% (27)

Fly-tipping statistics (number of incidents which includes side waste) – source BwDBC database and Flycapture

2003/4 4,700

2004/5 5,317 Enforcement staff recruited x3Side waste ban introduced

2005/6 6,330

2006/7 6,733 Enforcement staff recruited x2

2007/8 5,724* (projected to year end of which 1,394 are side waste)

Enforcement staff recruited x2

Cost of moving back to weekly collections

Costs of bins £850,000

3 additional refuse collection rounds and leafleting/PR/bin deliveries £598,000 (full year costs)

Reductions in recycling fleet and staffing - 3 vehicles and staff due to move to fortnightly collections £301,000 p.a.

Income from the sale of 3 recycling vehicles not factored in

Facts

Public satisfaction with household waste collection has dropped by 5 % in the last 3 years (source MORI 2003/4 -2006/7)

Public satisfaction with the environment has increased by 15% in the last 3 years (source MORI 2003/4 -2006/7)

Public satisfaction with recycling has increased by 6% (source MORI 2003/4 -2006/7)

5x as many investigations/actions on fly-tipping and side wastein 2007/8

On target for a 17% reduction in fly-tipping in 2007/8

Total waste arisings have reduced by 8% during 2007/8

Since October 2007, side waste complaints have nearly halved

Tony Watson

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

tony.watson@blackburn.gov.uk

01254 585054

Thank you

Robert WardHead of Operations

Huntingdonshire District Council

Alternating Weekly Collection Services

Where we are

The District

360 square miles

162,000 population

69,000 properties

High growth area - possible Future Eco Town

Mix of Market Towns and Rural areas

Low council tax base - £109.91 for a band D property

Working Together

Very Strong and active Joint Waste Partnership

Now evolving into Waste & Environment Partnership

Clear Countywide strategies for Waste Collection & Disposal

Emerging joint strategies for envirocrime

Partnership has its own organisation RECAP (Recycling, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough )

RECAP employs full time officers

The Partnership has been successful in bidding for funding for new initiatives / currently we are running a BREW funded project to promote trade waste recycling for SME’s

Our Previous Service was

Weekly sack collection based on black plastic sacks provided free of charge to residents. 12 vehicles

55 litre Green Box for dry recycled materials

Network of 110 ‘bring sites’ for cans, plastics, paper, textiles and glass

Garden waste was only collected in sacks purchased from us by residents – the material went to landfill

Both sacks and boxes created significant litter problems for us on collection days

Cleansing regimes were timed to follow collections to deal with those problems

The service we now provide

Alternating weekly collections

Based on the use of 240litre wheeled bins

Blue Bin for co-mingled dry recyclables. (excluding Glass)

Green Bin for Garden waste

Grey Bin for residual waste

Glass collected through our network of 110 ‘bring sites’

Excess residual waste is not collected. (side waste)

Those remaining on sack collections are provided with blue sacks and continue to receive a weekly collection

What we did

Initial 12 month trial in 2003 with 8,000 properties from a cross section of property types.- with microchips and onboard weighing

Detailed district wide survey to establish exactly who could and could not accommodate bins. Terraces / flats, apartments etc.

Each bin is individually addressed – so residents always get their own bin back. (more important than many think)

Bin colours are not bright – blend in rather than stick out

Additional garden waste and dry recycling bins are available– max 2 per property (for those that have the room)

Additional bins for residual waste not available

Following positive feedback – rolled out to whole district in 2004 / 05

Achievements

Service now covers the whole district

We have 187,000 bins in use (£3 million capital cost)

2002/03 recycling rate was 14%

2006/07 recycling rate was 52%

Current rate is running at about 58%

Residents satisfaction rate (2006) - 92% rated the service as v satisfactory, good or excellent

Operationally, we now undertake approx 22,000 collections each day

The service employs 22 x 26 tonne vehicles (£3 million capital investment)

Why does it work so well. (in our case)

Provided adequate resources – (it doesn’t come cheap!)

Engaged with residents

Getting the press ‘on side’ before the trials even started

Recognise that you can’t change the habits of a lifetime overnight

Give people enough time to get used to it before strictly enforcingthe rules

Listen to concerns and address individual issues A lot of visits !

Keep people informed. Praise them for doing well

Develop solutions to individual problems wherever possible – clear sacks etc.

Need for ongoing feedback to residents – and free compost giveaway’s

Environmental Impact

No increase in the general level of fly tipping / littering Clear reduction in levels of residual littering on collection days Smokey garden bonfire complaints virtually disappeared Has highlighted those who don’t manage their waste Is making it socially unacceptable to simply dump black sacks Increasing levels of reports from those managing their waste

properly, about those who are not. (people are snitching) Proactive enforcement is necessary Dumped domestic material easier to identify than before Number of trade waste agreements have risen Successful multi agency / community anti fly tipping

campaigns

Summary

It isn’t cheap – it needs long term political and financial commitment

Keep it simple and adapt to meet user needs wherever practical

Keep communicating – offer praise and then offer some more

Don’t expect overnight change and compliance. It takes time to change the habit of a lifetime

One size doesn’t fit all. What works for us, may not work for you, the key is to adapt and modify to suit your local situation