Agenda item

(Indicative timing: 10:05 – 10.30am)

The Panel received a report which set out the background to the current Waste Services Management Contract. The Assistant Director for Economy, Major Projects and Waste (EMPW) advised that an extension to the Contract was currently being finalised, following which a detailed report would be brought to the Panel.

The Waste Services Manager explained that the report set out the history of the contract, including the variations which had been incorporated over time to encompass changes in legislation. The 25-year contract had commenced in 1998, and the proposed 5-year extension would extend the contract to January 2029. The Panel was informed that the contract covered the Council’s role as a Waste Disposal Authority (WDA) and that it was an integrated contract with one contractor covering all the services. As a WDA the Council had two key roles, firstly to ensure the disposal of recycling and recovering value from the waste collected by the waste collection authorities in Worcestershire and Herefordshire; and secondly to manage the household waste sites across the two counties.

Members were invited to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

·       It was confirmed that Herefordshire Council was still fully engaged in the process and would continue to be part of the contract for the extended period. There would be some variations included as part of the contract to accommodate some recent changes that Herefordshire had agreed to implement as part of their collection arrangements. The Panel was informed of the revised disposal arrangements for Herefordshire Council waste which would include food waste being sent directly to the anaerobic digester and untreated paper products being handled in a separate location in the transfer station, to then be sent directly to a processor.

·       The Assistant Director (EMPW) advised that when the contract extension was agreed, there would time for Officers to plan for what might follow in 2029 and for the team to quickly focus on this new priority.

·       Members referred to examples of ideas for using the excess heat and carbon from the EnviRecover plant to create new revenue streams. The Panel was advised that a working group consisting of representatives of the Contractor, the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP) and the Sustainability team were currently looking at options on this. Sources of financial support to enable options to be explored were also being actively sought, with one recent application to the Heat Network Distribution Unit proving unsuccessful.

·       In response to a question, the Waste Services Manager confirmed that historically, it had been necessary to divert some of the residual waste for disposal to an out of county facility in Coventry for a limited time, although most of the waste had still continued to be disposed of at the Hill and Moor site. In current times, specialist recycling facilities located outside of the county continued to be used where processing was not available within county.

·       It was confirmed that odour control monitoring was covered in the contract. Any odour control issues either came under the environmental permits monitored by the Environment Agency or the planning consent monitoring by the Council, both of which formed part of the contract and service delivery plan that the Council had with the contractor, and these were regularly monitored. It was noted that there were effective community liaison groups in place and that there were currently no odour issues of concern.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR) for the Environment advised that when the current work was finalised, the process of building towards the contract for 2029 would begin. This would be a great opportunity to incorporate elements which would enable further significant inroads to be achieved in the reduction of carbon emissions and would involve the WWT&FG.

The CMR emphasised the importance of ‘recovery value’ being at the heart of what the Council waste services does, with all possible value from waste being obtained at the different stages of processing. For instance, the incinerator bottom ash (IBA) from the EnviRecover plant was taken to the Hill and Moor site and recycled further into different metals and aggregates, to ensure that all scope for recycling had been achieved.

The Chairman thanked the CMR and Officers for the update and advised that the Panel would look forward to a further update once the extension to the contract had been completed.