Agenda item

The Board received a presentation from Jimmy Unsworth, Divisional Manager, Waste and Environmental Improvement which provided Members with information on the Rewards for Recycling Scheme.

 

The presentation:-

 

·        Outlined the costs of Waste Disposal Costs and that 100 vehicles go to landfill every week carrying 10 tons of waste;

 

·        Set out the waste disposal costs of £2.56m per year, £1.92m tax which would significantly increase year on year;

 

·        Explained that recycling costs less than disposal and highlighted the multi material re-cycling service in Halton;

 

·        Emphasised that any system the Council implemented would only be successful in achieving targets with residents co-operation;

 

·        Outlined the Recycle Rewards Scheme in Halton;

 

·        Explained the background to the Recycle Bank in Halton – the pilot scheme to 10,000 households in October 2009, the extension to 37,000 more households in August 2010 and the roll out to all properties in 2011;

 

·        Set out the challenges to improving recycling and the introduction of the scheme;

 

·        Explained how the RecycleBank Account was activated, the rewards catalogue and the rewards redemption;

 

·        Set out the scheme outcomes and explained the 4 ‘R’s – reduce, re-use, recycle and reward and feedback from the residents; and

 

·        Outlined the successes to date and the next steps.

 

The Board was advised that in October 2009 the Council became only the second local authority in the UK to introduce the Recycle Bank ‘Rewards for Recycling Scheme’ and the first to introduce the scheme to an established kerbside multi-material recycling service.

 

The Board was further advised that the scheme had been originally introduced as a pilot to 10,000 homes in seven areas of the borough in October 2009 and, following the success of the pilot, had been extended to a further 36,000 households in August 2010. 

 

         Arising from the discussion it was noted that work was being undertaken to establish a Green Waste Recycling Scheme.  It was also noted that a default ‘opt in’ option for activating accounts for the scheme could not be considered as it would breach privacy laws and therefore the scheme had to be operated on a voluntary basis.  The excellent work that had been undertaken by Officers and the success of the scheme to date was noted.

 

         The benefits of having the scheme and in particular the significant savings that could be made via recycling as opposed to landfill was noted.  It was recognised that the focus had been on encouraging residents in all areas of the Borough to participate in the scheme and recycle more household materials. The next steps would be to identify who was not participating in the scheme and recycling and identify the reasons in order to reduce landfill costs in the future.

 

It was also recognised that there was approximately 110 local businesses and 10 national businesses participating in the scheme currently.  It had been disappointing that more national companies had not agreed to participate in the scheme as the wider the rewards the more successful the scheme would be.  It was noted that market traders had been approached to participate in the scheme.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)         the presentation be received;

 

(2)         Jimmy Unsworth be thanked for his informative presentation; and

 

(3)         Officers be congratulated for their success and excellent achievements to date on the Rewards for Recycling Scheme. thanked for his informative presentation.