This is a discussion item in preparation for the next meeting.
Minutes:
The Chairman introduced the item and explained to Members it was a discussion item in preparation for their presentation from Rachel Stamp, Contract Management and Performance Senior Officer from Lincolnshire County Council, at the meeting on 26 March 2024. The Chairman explained to Members that scrutiny was seeking an update on the roll out of purple bins across Lincolnshire, and there would be an opportunity for Members to ask questions and make comments ahead of the next meeting.
The Director of Operational and Commercial Services presented background information to the item, explaining that the roll out the purple-lidded bins in West Lindsey took place in April 2022, following a decision from Members in November 2021 to give residents the opportunity to separate paper and card from other recyclables, as the Council aimed to produce a cleaner product from residents’ recycling and to prevent contamination. He then highlighted the following salient points:
• West Lindsey was the third district council in Lincolnshire to make this decision along with Boston Borough Council and Kesteven District Council.
• The initiative provided better and improved environmental outcomes for West Lindsey and linked with the Council’s Joint Municipal Waste Strategy objectives which were to improve the quality of recycling and produce a common set of materials produced across Lincolnshire and contribute to the recycling target.
• The purple bin collection was operated on an alternate fortnightly basis to the blue bin at no additional cost to residents.
• The collaborative work effort between West Lindsey and Lincolnshire County Council, the authority for waste disposal, was successful and officers from both authorities worked hard to bring the scheme forward, from officers working on the ground supporting the roll out, as well as the customer service support available to residents.
• The Council had tested and successfully implemented Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the first time, with a web bot used to answer residents’ questions, to reduce demand and respond in a timely manner to residents.
• There were some issues with embedding the scheme and the change for residents recycling, for example there were instances with bins being rejected, but the service was now embedded in the district with cooperation from residents and was operating business as usual now.
• In terms of dry paper and card contamination, contamination had been reduced from 30% to under 10%.
Members listened to the presentation and observed the increase in cardboard and paper packaging from online deliveries to residents and this was being left as there was not enough room for this to fit in residents’ bins. The Director of Operational and Commercial Services responded that the team made every effort to collect overspill cardboard left out by residents on collection day. However, if this had been left outside and become wet it would not be possible to be collected as this would contaminate the waste collection load. He advised that residents should break down and fold cardboard packaging as much as possible to fit inside their bin.
In preparation for the next meeting, Members and officers discussed possible questions to pose to Lincolnshire County Council. Members proposed the following questions:
• What has the impact been of the roll out of the purple bins on a county-wide scale?
• How does West Lindsey compare to other councils in the district in terms of quality and quantity of product from waste collections?
• What has been the impact on residual waste rates? Has pressure reduced from the waste plant in North Kesteven?
• Will Lincolnshire County Council continue to support with commerce and engagement with residents following the conclusion of the project to ensure that contamination is kept to a minimum?
• Has Lincolnshire County Council achieved their own corporate objectives from the scheme? What is the financial impact of the scheme and has it generated additional income for the Council?
• What can we do to promote in the Southwest Ward which still use sack collections?
• What is the impact on the overall recycling rate for Lincoln and how does this compare to the national benchmark?
The Chairman thanked the Director of Operational and Commercial Services for his input and invited Members to send any additional questions to the Senior Democratic Services Officer to be included in preparation for the presentation from Lincolnshire County Council at the next Overview and Scrutiny meeting on 26 March 2024.