Archived decisions

Contact: Paul Archer, ext 7022 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report updates Members on current operational and strategic issues affecting both the County Council's waste management team and the wider Project Integra partnership.

2. Introduction

2.1 Project Integra (PI) is the partnership of all 14 Hampshire authorities and the private waste contractor Hampshire Waste Services (HWS). It was established in the mid 1990s as part of a locally developed strategy to deliver an integrated waste management solution in Hampshire. Its successes include the achievement of a 25% recycling rate in 2000, being awarded Beacon Council Status in 2000/01 and being regularly exemplified in Government strategies.

2.2 The waste management team is responsible for discharging the County Council's role as a Waste Disposal Authority (WDA). It does this by managing the primary waste disposal contract (with HWS), in partnership with the two City Councils, and managing the contracts for running the network of 23 household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) in the county. It also manages former landfill sites and other waste management assets to ensure public health and safety, and to minimise their impact on the environment.

3. Operational Performance (Issues)

3.1 Appendix 1 sets out the operational performance of PI for the first half of 2003/04. Appendix 2 shows the County Council's performance, ie excluding Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils.

Recycling

3.2 Recycling performance is steadily improving and is close to 25% (2002/03 recycling rate was 22.6%). The recycling rate is set to increase further as a number of authorities are set to expand or roll-out new recycling schemes before the end of the financial year. Most noticeably, Southampton's roll-out plans will have a very positive effect on the overall recycling performance over the next year or so.

3.3 It is anticipated that some 85,000 to 90,000 tonnes of dry recyclables will require processing in the current year. In order to accommodate this level of demand (capacity in Hampshire is currently limited to 60,000 tonnes) out of county processing capacity has been secured via HWS to ensure that all recyclables separated by Hampshire residents are processed. The introduction of a new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at Alton - planned for August/September 2004 - and an upgrade at the Portsmouth MRF will mean that capacity in Hampshire will increase to a minimum 157,000 tonnes per annum.

3.4 Green waste processing is also an integral part of the PI recycling achievement. During the current year additional small-scale, but conveniently located, capacity has been secured on a number of farm sites. Additionally, Down End site near Fareham is working close to 50% capacity (this is an improvement on past years) and it is also being used to shred and transfer green waste thus avoiding landfill disposal at busy (weekend/bank holidays) periods.

3.5 Fixed composting capacity in Hampshire is set to significantly increase by the end of 2004 as planning permission has recently been secured for an expansion of up to 60,000 tonnes per annum at the Little Bushy Warren Copse site, located between Alton and Basingstoke. The extent of the expansion will depend upon the cost of differently sized building options. DEFRA awarded the County Council £2.4 million from its Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund in 2002 to enable green waste capacity to be increased. The cost of the full 60,000 expansion is estimated at £5.5-£6.0 million.

3.6 Glass recycling is increasingly being seen as the third key material (area) to concentrate efforts on within the household stream. PI has been very successful in securing glass processing capacity in Hampshire through its collaboration with Midland Glass (MG). By working closely with PI and having access to a market which is only going to increase in size, MG could see the benefit of setting up a plant in Southampton docks giving transport access by sea as a further competitive advantage.

The arrangement between PI and MG was recently recognised at the annual national recycling awards with a first prize being awarded in the partnership category.

3.7 Glass recycling via the traditional bottle banks located in HWRCs and car parks/other local community areas is set to be enhanced by kerbside collection schemes. Initially, a pilot scheme is set to be launched in Hart and Rushmoor (partly subsidised by PI) but assuming it is successful, ie capture is cost effective and does not merely displace existing systems, it is likely that other authorities will wish to move into this area as a means to helping them achieve their individual recycling targets set by Government.

3.8 The other principal area of PI recycling is through the HWRC network. New three-year contracts were let in January with the emphasis once again on improving the already high (50%+) recycling levels. The management contractors will receive incentive bonuses at the year end if performance has improved with any bonus payments funded from part of the associated disposal cost savings. Performance for the first nine months of the new contracts has improved when compared to the same period for 2002 with some significant improvements achieved at specific sites.

3.9 Recent investment at the New Alresford site has seen an immediate and major improvement in recycling levels. Previously, the site had a very limited recycling capability and did not have room to segregate green waste. Under these conditions it recycled around 10% of the material it handled. The new site, which has been modestly expanded, now offers a fuller range of recycling options, such that in its first month of improved operations it achieved a recycling rate of 52%.

3.10 Further improvements to the HWRC network are planned for 2004. These include the innovative Bar End project which will accommodate the relocated Winchester HWRC along with charitable and commercial waste operations. Options for improving the sites at Hayling Island, Casbrook, Eastleigh and Havant will also be worked up.

Energy Recovery (Incineration)

3.11 The first of PI's three new energy recovery facilities (ERFs), at Chineham, began operations in January of this year. Performance to date is good and based on operations during April to September the plant looks likely to recover energy from some 94,000 tonnes of residual waste in 2003/04. The notional capacity of the Chineham facility is 90,000 tonnes per annum

3.12 Work is progressing well on the two remaining plants at Marchwood and Portsmouth. The latest timetable suggests that Marchwood will be commissioned around October 2004 with Portsmouth following in early 2005. Both plants are notionally sized at 165,000 tonnes per annum.

3.13 The ERF at Chineham has recently started to process recycling residues from the MRF at Portsmouth. This is beneficial to the operation of the plant and also financially welcome as landfill tax is avoided. Residue rates at MRFs vary, but can be as high as 15%. This is mainly as a consequence of unsatisfactory input material, an area which PI will be concentrating on in 2004/05.

Disposal (Landfill)

3.14 Despite the improving recycling rate, and the introduction of the Chineham ERF, almost 65% (or 284,000 tonnes) of waste was still disposed of into landfill during the first half of the current year. This figure will clearly reduce as recycling rates further improve and the ERFs at Marchwood and Portsmouth are introduced in 2004/05. However, even if PI can achieve the `magical' 40% recycling rate it is striving for over the next few years, some 20% of household waste will still require landfilling in the medium term. This equates to approximately 200,000 tonnes per annum.

4. Strategic Issues

4.1 The introduction of the three ERFs and the recycling plants at Alton and Little Bushy Warren Copse will mean that the infrastructure allowed for within the long term disposal contract with HWS will have been delivered within the next year or so. Although the contract will run until at least 2024/25 it is clearly necessary and timely to update PI's strategic vision, especially as the challenges faced today and in the immediate future are different again to those faced when the original strategy was developed in the mid 1990s.

Materials Resources Strategy

4.2 PI's future strategy will emerge over the next year or so in conjunction with the development of a materials resources strategy (MRS) for Hampshire. PI is a key player in the development of the MRS which aims to consider materials (including waste) as resources. It advocates a holistic approach to resource management and looks to embrace all waste producers, not just households, by joining up waste management issues with mineral extraction and the use of natural resources.

4.3 The MRS will be a joint consultation exercise developed by the statutory minerals and waste planning authorities of Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton together with the remaining PI partners through a structured programme of stakeholder dialogue, community outreach and subject specific workshops. Subject to emerging legislation, the consultation process will result in the deposit of an MRS for Hampshire in autumn 2004.

4.4 The MRS embraces land use planning, PI, the Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative (HNRI) and the planned strategic review by the County Council's waste management team of the HWRC network. Through the approach outlined above a joined up strategy will result which will make it easier, ie via the planning system, for all sectors (including Small, Medium Enterprises - SMEs) to optimise the recycling potential of different resource streams.

Best Value Review

4.5 As part of the future strategy development, PI is undertaking a strategic Best Value review of its operations over the next year. PI is currently a £70-£80 million per year business and clearly it makes sense to review how it functions and to seek to get Best Value for the local taxpayer from the resources that are going into the partnership.

4.6 The PI Board has agreed the scope of the review and a team, comprising officers from the disposal, unitary and collection authorities together with best value experts and PI's Executive Officer, has been tasked with carrying out the review.

4.7 The review covers a number of different elements including:

(i) all WDA and WCA municipal services within the partnership, including collection and ancillary services, recycling services, HWRCs, disposal and processing and strategic decision making and service monitoring;

(ii) the PI Executive and Member interface;

(iii) the PI Brand;

(iv) partnerships with other organisations; and

(v) the disposal contract with HWS.

4.8 The review began in August of this year. A draft timetable has been prepared which complements the development of the MRS and allows for early analysis and potential strategy options to be presented to PI Members next summer.

Next Year

4.9 Whilst work on the MRS and Best Value review is progressed, PI will be embarking on another business plan and seeking to ensure that key areas of the business are moved forward in a strategic way.

4.10 With the impending introduction of new infrastructure, the immediate strategic direction is changing in its focus. There is a clearly identified need to increase the capture of recyclables and to optimise the quality of the collected materials. Recycling is being increasingly driven by end markets and therefore the quality of the PI product is more and more important. A sub group of officers within the PI network has been established to look into quality and capture issues. One of the principal aims will be to reduce contamination levels at the front end, which recently have been proven to be as high as 15%.

4.11 Community engagement and research, education and awareness programmes are being developed and prioritised. The latest round of DEFRA recycling money has an element ring-fenced for work in these areas and at the time of compiling this report, PI was awaiting guidance from DEFRA as to how best to pursue a bid for the funds that exist.

4.12 In addition to the quality and capture issues, sub groups led by members of PI's Policy and Review Scrutiny Committee are looking into a number of different work areas. These include policy convergence, waste by water, impending legislation, including the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, incentives, and charging and green waste policy incorporating banning green waste in the residual bin.

4.13 Officers from the waste management section are supporting PI colleagues in these areas and are also working on other initiatives such as abandoned vehicle policy and operation. Progress reports on work connected with the WEEE directive and abandoned vehicles are due to be presented to this Committee early in 2004.

5. Conclusions

5.1 The current operational performance of PI highlights an improving recycling rate with every reason to be confident that it will steadily increase towards the current 40% target over the short to medium term. The ERF at Chineham is working well and early indications suggest it will comfortably process more waste than its notional design capacity.

5.2 The recently let HWRC contracts are performing well and the partnership with Midland Glass and the trials for kerbside glass collection suggest that another valuable resource stream is soon to be optimised. The future for recycling in Hampshire looks good especially as processing capacity is soon to be increased significantly with projects at Alton and Little Bushy Warren Copse due to be completed next year.

5.3 There are a number of exciting strategic issues affecting the partnership at present. Both the MRS and Best Value Review should, built on achievements, put PI on the path to success. The complementary nature of the initiatives should ensure both value for money and optimal environmental performance.

5.4 Although the MRS and Best Value Review are under way, there are a number of strategic issues currently being addressed. These include the refocusing of direction to community engagement and research, education and awareness programmes all designed to increase the quality and capture of recyclables. Work is also progressing well in terms of PI being placed to respond to legislative change.

Recommendation

That the current operational performance of, and the strategic issues affecting, Project Integra be noted.

8414/PA