Agenda item

The Committee gave consideration to a report presented by the Change, Programme and Performance Manager regarding the introduction of food waste collections, It was explained that at their meeting on 9 July 2024, the Prosperous Communities Committee had approved the commencement of a district wide Food Waste Collection scheme as mandated by the Environment Act 2021. The Act meant that the Council must implement a separate weekly food waste collection scheme by 1 April 2025 for commercial properties and by 1 April 2026 for domestic properties. To help with associated costs, the government had provided £897K to buy vehicles and caddies in advance of starting the service. The funding had been provided in advance to assist the supply of delivering the vehicles and caddies that were needed, and to help Councils obtain value for money by going through proper procurement processes.

It was highlighted that it was within the Committee’s remit to authorise the expenditure of the grant funding that had been received, with that being the approval sought within the report.

Members of the Committee enquired as to whether food waste could be combined with other collections and bins, such as the garden waste, thereby negating the need for additional caddies and collections. It was explained that the collections were mandated to be weekly, meaning they could not be combined with existing fortnightly collections, nor were there the facilities to manage to disposal of combined waste matter. It was highlighted that the Council was the collecting authority, however Lincolnshire County Council were the disposal authority, meaning West Lindse District Council was required to collect waste in a way that could then be disposed of by the County Council.

In response to a query regarding the option of running a trial collection period, it was explained that the funding from the government was for the mandatory roll out only, therefore any trial period would have a financial impact on the Council. In relation to the disposal aspect, it was requested whether a visit could be arranged for Members to attend the processing site at Hemswell Cliff in order to understand not only the process but also the correlation with collection options. A Member of the Committee noted that for there to be maximum public understanding of the new collections there would need to be significant communications from the Council in as many ways as possible, for example including information with the annual collection schedules which were delivered to every household.

It was enquired as to whether the government funding would provie to be sufficient or whether the Council may face budgetary pressures in the future. It was confirmed that it was anticipated that support provided may only meet 80% of funding requirements, meaning there would likely be a gap in the budget.

In acknowledging that this was a mandatory service, the recommendation contained within the report was duly proposed, seconded, and voted upon, and it was unanimously

RESOLVED that £897,060 of capital grant funding be allocated to the 2024-25 Capital Programme to purchase vehicles, caddies, and bins, to deliver the district wide Food Waste Collection scheme.