Contact: Adrian Lee, ext 7004

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That the framework of a strategy for the County Council's Household Waste Recycling Centre service be approved, comprising:

(a) The purpose of the service be defined as:

`To fulfil the County Council's obligations under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to provide facilities for the deposit of household waste and to ensure that, within affordable cost, the maximum amount of material is diverted for recycling'.

(b) The scope of the strategy be as set out in paragraph 11.1 of this report.

(c) The following five key objectives:

(i) The service should seek to meet County Council corporate aims for the environment and for accessible services.

(ii) The service should help achieve the County Council's Best Value Performance Indicators for recycling.

(iii) The service should be customer orientated.

(iv) The service should reflect and work in harmony with other collection services provided by the Project Integra partnership.

(v) The service should be innovative and inspire best practice.

(ii) That the issues raised in Section 12 of this report be developed for further consideration.

2. Reason

2.1 There is a need to prepare a strategy now to:

(i) enable the role of the service in implementing the Project Integra Joint Interim Municipal Waste Management Strategy to be identified;

(ii) provide a formal basis for the service and to assist in making operational decisions;

(iii) assist with the process of planning for new or improved site infrastructure; and

(iv) provide a framework for the development of a tender for the new Household Waste Recycling Centre management contract.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected - Not applicable.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. Introduction

7.1 This report sets out a strategy for the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) service in Hampshire and suggests a framework of principles, aims and objectives. This will assist with the future development of the service as part of Project Integra's overall waste management strategy, and guide the formulation of a new tender and contract for operation of the service which is needed from 1 January 2003.

8. Background

Legal Responsibility

8.1 The Environmental Protection Act 1990 establishes a responsibility on the County Council to provide "places ... at which persons resident in its area may deposit their household waste" and to dispose of that waste. In order to fulfil this function the County Council has developed a network of 24 sites across the county. These sites are managed by Hopkins Recycling Limited and by Onyx Hampshire Limited under a contract let in 1998. That contract expires at the end of December 2002. A schedule of the sites and their status is included in Appendix 1.

9. Performance

9.1 The network of HWRCs is an important component of the recycling service in Hampshire, as it collects about half of the total household waste material recycled in the county. In 2000/01 the 26 sites (including those in Southampton and Portsmouth) collected a total of 202,000 tonnes, of which just over half was reused, recycled or composted. A detailed breakdown of the performance figures for each site is attached as Appendix 2. The sites also provide a facility for depositing some hazardous household wastes.

9.2 The cost of the service to the County Council amounts to about £6 million per annum, or £30 per tonne of material handled, including processing and disposal costs.

10. Purpose of the Service

10.1 It is suggested that the following statement defines the purpose of the service:

`To fulfil the County Council's obligations under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to provide facilities for the deposit of household waste and to ensure that, within affordable cost, the maximum amount of material is diverted for recycling'.

11. Scope of the Strategy

11.1 The strategy will cover the HWRC service provided by Hampshire County Council within its administrative area. It will include objectives and policies that relate specifically to the County Council's legal obligations to provide the service, but will also consider how other powers may be used to deliver opportunities to widen its scope. The strategy will take account of and integrate with the Project Integra strategy for waste management in Hampshire. It will be used to guide the management of the service and improvements to infrastructure related to delivering the service, eg dealing with commercial waste, customer care, health and safety, etc.

12. Main Policy Issues

12.1 This section proposes five key objectives on the purpose of the service and indicates some of the current issues relating to them. It then suggests some initial policy areas and actions which need to be explored to achieve the proposed strategy objectives. Debates on these issues will then enable further procedures and actions to be prepared to ensure effective delivery of the service.

Objective 1: The service should seek to meet County Council corporate aims for the environment and for accessible services

12.2 Customer surveys indicate that the HWRC service is very popular with residents. However, one cause of concern is the congestion which arises at peak times, particularly during summer weekends, which often results in queueing at sites. This is exacerbated by the fact that a number of sites have limited space available and at times have to be closed to the public to enable containers to be changed safely. Service 'gaps' have been identified in a few areas of the county, particularly in Basingstoke, Hart, North West Hampshire and the southern Waterside Parishes in New Forest. Here the general level of accessibility to sites enjoyed across the county (households being within five miles of an HWRC) is not maintained. Without action, this situation will deteriorate as a number of sites (Winchester, Hayling Island, Casbrook and Netley) only have a temporary planning permission. Whilst new sites are currently being developed at Alton and New Alresford further enhancements are limited by the lack of funding. New sites presently cost £0.75 million to construct, including land acquisition.

12.3 Policy areas and actions needed to achieve the objective:

(i) develop innovative means of funding infrastructure provision;

(ii) develop standards of accessibility, eg a maximum drive time or distance to an HWRC, a maximum catchment area in terms of population and set policies to achieve the objective;

(iii) site infrastructure and service to address requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act; and

(iv) review opening hours.

Objective 2: The service should help achieve the County Council's Best Value Performance Indicators for recycling

12.4 There is a statutory need to meet recycling performance levels and, as the service is subject to a Best Value review in 2004, the service will need to be 'challenged' to ensure that it compares favourably with other counties. The HWRCs currently fulfil a significant role in achieving the overall levels of recycling within the county and the Project Integra partnership. Evidence from recent surveys indicates that even when residents have the choice of a free kerbside collection service for bulky goods, some still prefer to use the HWRC service. Another issue related to performance is the perceived limited success relating to excluding commercial waste from the sites and the lack of alternative services for small traders.

12.5 Policy areas and actions needed to achieve the objective:

(i) develop policies to maximise use of the existing network and a programme of selective site improvements to improve recycling levels;

(ii) develop a policy to seek continuous improvement of the service;

(iii) develop a policy for restricting free deposit of waste to those types for which the Council has a legal obligation to accept; and

(iv) ensure that the sites are playing a part in developing the Natural Resource Management Initiative, by developing policies for acceptance of some commercial wastes on a charged basis.

Objective 3: The service should be customer orientated

12.6 The service is a `front line' service by which the public form views of the performance of the County Council. It is therefore important that the sites are managed to provide an appropriate and consistent level of customer care and that the service as a whole continues to meet or exceed customer expectations, within overall cost constraints.

12.7 Policy areas and actions needed to achieve the objective:

(i) develop specific policies and standards of customer care, particularly for older or disabled customers, with appropriate training for front line staff;

(ii) consider appropriate opening hours;

(iii) undertake further research, including customer surveys and feedback, to define what customers seek from the service;

(iv) introduce better signing at sites and better information about recycling and household waste collection services;

(v) introduce incentives to cover these issues in the new management contract; and

(vi) undertake an analysis of funding issues, including alternative sources of funding, best value and management of service costs.

Objective 4: The service should reflect and work in harmony with other collection services provided by the Project Integra partnership

12.8 As indicated earlier the HWRC service plays a significant role in the overall achievement of high recycling in the county. Policies to restrict waste types need to be consistent with those applied by district councils to ensure that they support the overall Project Integra strategy for Hampshire and do not present an opportunity to dispose of material which is not accepted elsewhere.

12.9 Policy areas and actions needed to achieve the objective:

(i) consider alternative services integrated with Waste Collection Authorities' services, for example bulky household waste collections, green garden waste collections; and

(ii) develop a Waste Acceptance Policy to identify what materials can be accepted within the service.

Objective 5: The service should be innovative and inspire best practice

12.10 Changing legislation, lifestyles and the increasing demand for sustainable actions constantly bring new demands on the waste management and HWRC service. The service must be able to adapt to these new challenges, but manage costs at the same time.

12.11 Policy areas and actions needed to achieve the objective:

(i) develop policies to develop services to meet wider needs, including commercial needs, and a charging structure to support them;

(ii) develop links with district council or voluntary group 'bring' schemes and coordinate action through the Natural Resource Management Initiative; and

(iii) consider the role of `mobile services', improved transport arrangements and new contract incentives to constantly review and improve services.

13. Development of the Strategy

13.1 It is proposed that the purpose of the service and its key objectives be endorsed now, and that officers should then develop more detailed policies and procedures, together with costs estimates of their impact, to meet them and help delivery of the strategy. The strategy should reflect and be in general accordance with the Project Integra strategy and the Joint Interim Municipal Waste Management Strategy currently being developed within the Project Integra partnership. It is suggested that development should include input from the public, through focus groups and targeted market research.

13.2 It is expected that a report on this framework will be submitted to the Executive Member for Environment in the autumn and, subject to approval, would then be subject to further debate and wider public consultation before being confirmed. Work needs to start now in order that the new management contract can commence in 2003 for a three year period. The contract will be based on the objectives and ideas set out in this report. The final strategy is unlikely to be confirmed before the end of 2003, so any major policy changes from this would feed into the following management contract, to commence in 2006, although particular ideas could be incorporated or piloted under the earlier contract.

7012/AWL

APPENDIX 1

HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING CENTRES

SCHEDULE OF TENURE AND PLANNING CONSENT

1 FEBRUARY 2002

APPENDIX 2

HWRC PERFORMANCE 2000/01