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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
Resolved: The Sustainable Resource Strategy Report be approved.
Apologies received: Cllr K Lewis Absent R Devlin
There were no disclosures of interest by Members relating to items to be considered at the meeting.
The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.
The Chair was authorised to sign the Minutes of the previous meeting on the 28.10.2024 as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: The Sustainable Resource Strategy Report be approved.
Background: • The Council had compiled the strategy after working with a number of different partners, including WRAP who are working on behalf of the Welsh Government. Powys currently follows their blue print to standardise collections across Wales. • It would form the first element towards a business case in order to bid for Welsh Government capital funding for much needed improvement and development within the service. • Significant progress had been made towards targets but stressed that a lot of legislation and regulations had been and were due to be introduced, including the Council net zero targets and alignment with the Councils vision of a Sustainable Powys. • Assurance was given to the Committee all the material collected for recycling is recycled with anything not recyclable being processed for energy from waste. • The Service were seeking approval from Cabinet to proceed with an engagement exercise to move forward with the Powys Sustainable Resources Strategy. Points raised by the Committee: Responses received from Officers or Cabinet Members: Were there any plans for cross border working as residents found the different schemes confusing. It was explained that the blue print from the Welsh Government would standardise collection methods across Wales and 17 out of the 22 local authorities were already collecting in a similar way. Discussions were ongoing regarding cross border shared household recycling centres which were heavily dependent on available funding. Would it be possible to include second hand reusable nappies to the current offer from the Council. Officers were unaware of a second-hand market for reusable nappies and would conduct further enquires to gain more understanding. It was felt the Council needed to engage more with smaller companies to ensure collections were possible for those not achieving adequate waste levels. The workplace recycling regulations meant that every business had to legally separate waste and the Council served every business using various methods. Concerns were raised that the engagement process had an on-line focus, and a postal offer was suggested. The Council used leaflet drops to raise awareness and further written communications would take place to notify collection date changes due to the route optimisation exercise. The importance was emphasised to include offline residents, and each suggestion and opinion was valued. TikTok videos would also be considered. A question was raised around polythene and thermal plastics which were being collected by supermarkets and were there any plans for a Council collection. It was noted that new safer materials for food wrap were being developed which made the recycling process more complex but could be collected due to its size and compact ability . It was stressed that the Council did not have the infrastructure or capacity to collect these at the kerbside, which may change in the future if funding was made available. There were current options to recycle these at the household recycling centres and It was hoped that ‘extended producer responsibility’ would reduce materials, as producers would pay for the collection and processing of the materials they put on the market. Clarification was requested around the supply of clinical waste bags. It was confirmed that the Powys Teaching Health Board provided collections for clinical waste and the Council only collected non-hazardous waste in with residual waste and additional capacity was provided for residents if required. The Council worked with a number or partners and noted they could support to deliver messaging to communities to address the 20% of food waste still going into wheelie bins. The Portfolio Holder shared an example of how more communities and communal areas had been improved in London and the Council were learning from these organisations to progress changes in Powys with focus groups and individuals. All local authorities collaborate closely with many different partners and were used as a powerful messaging tool. The location of the plants that processed Powys waste was requested. It was explained that there were no local facilities available, and the main site was located at Ellesmere Port in which the Council was partnered with a broker who conducted the transportation. Due to the scale of waste, it was not financially viable for the Council to have a site. It was stressed that the introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme would impact the Council heavily due to the additional costs of sending material to Energy from Waste plants. It was asked if street cleaning struggled to separate waste in communities as different areas had different bins and facilities. Funding had been received to provide dual waste public bins and the Council recycled as much as possible. All the volunteer litter pickers were thanked and all that was recycled helped with the circular economy. Frustration was shared that businesses and organisations linked to the Council did not use its commercial recycling services including schools. It was felt that if more businesses were included it could be more effective and reach more communities. An additional question was asked if other organisations were more competitive. Did the Council have capacity to service all schools. A meeting had been held with all Head Teachers to encourage the use of Council services and had recently seen an increase due to the workplace recycling regulations which the Council provide a fair, equitable and legally compliant service. A costing exercise had taken place, and the Council was now recovering all costs for trade waste as required under the legislation. Services were becoming more competitive however the Council had to provide a service for the whole of Powys as the collector of last resort under the Workplace Recycling Regulations. The strategy noted the Awareness and Enforcement Team and how would those struggling to recycle be helped. It was commented that the awareness Teams had always been quick to action problems and come to swift resolutions. There were three Awareness Advisors across the County who can visit those struggling and provide support and guidance and provide additional extra capacity if needed. Also, bin stickers are used to identify issues. The element of enforcement was contained within the strategy but the emphasise would be to encourage rather than enforce residents to recycle. Would the repair of small electrical goods be part of the strategy. It was very much part of the strategy and would be considered as part of the household recycling centres and kerbside side collections, however, repair cafes were a great alternative. What would the Council be providing to ensure everyone would be able to book a slot at a household recycling centre. It was acknowledged that not everyone would be able to book online, and the engagement process would help to identify solutions. Telephone and an automated systems were being considered, although experience in other authorities showed that the vast majority of people were able to book online The booking system would reduce costs, and the Council were working with centres to ensure the system was implemented in April 2025, evidence showed that the system would reduce queues and help with customer hostility. Did the current bulking facilitates fit with the Sustainable Powys hub model and would grants be available to improve or extend them if needed. Bulking facilities were not publicly accessible and only store materials for transportation. The Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) sites were within the towns of the hub model Welshpool, Newtown, Llandrindod Wells, Brecon and Ystradgynlais. It was asked if the bulking facilities had capacity for the future. The Welsh Government funding would help to improve sites and ensure they were fit for purpose for the future. Community composting was raised and an invitation shared for facilities to be visited. It was noted that raising awareness was important and pleasing that schemes were successful in some areas and reminded the meeting that the Council also provide a chargeable collection for garden waste. It was asked how the Council recycled textiles. Textile banks were still available in public car parks as the service was not provided at the kerbside and would be considered in the future in line with regulations. More awareness and education was needed and to encourage the use of charity shops and repair cafes. It was asked if educating visitors was key to the Councils strategy and how it could be improved as tourism was a large industry in Powys. It was a key focus, and it was suggested that more information could be shared with establishments to show how well Wales recycles. Was the amount of DIY waste going into household waste known. DIY would currently be disposed at household recycling centres and a small charge would be incurred from April 2025. For larger jobs residents or businesses would require a skip which fell outside the remit of the strategy but stressed that most skip companies would recycle and reuse as much as possible. It was observed that due to recent storms electric vehicles may not be a solution. Vehicles would need to be addressed as the Council will not run fossil fuel vehicles after 2030. Thanks, and appreciation was shared that the operatives throughout the storm have worked extremely hard to maintain roads and services. It was proposed that recycling information from other organisations such as charity shops and repair cafes could be included on the Bins, Rubbish and Recycling - Powys County Council It was felt that the Council web pages could be updated and used more effectively to draw the public in. Good news stories could be published to announce and provide awareness around services. More clarity was requested around the reasons for missed collections. Staffing levels and vehicles were limited however a successful recruitment campaign had been conducted, issues were acknowledged and addressed as soon as possible. The Council conduct over 3 million recycling and over 1 million refuse collections during 2023/2024, with an average annual missed collection rate of 0.14%. Communication and action by the depots to improve collections were noted and shared with the meeting. Every effort would be made to engage with all Powys residents with a range of activities both on line and face to face to receive feedback. Resources were limited and the Committee were encouraged to contact their local Town and Community Councils and local residents to take part and be part of the engagement process. The Committee: · thanked everyone for producing a clear and concise document, which set a great example for how reports should be presented to Scrutiny Committees. It was easy to read and very comprehensive. · noted that partnership collaboration was strong and able to heavily support the process and strategy. · were pleased that comprehensive answers were received, and officers were open and willing to explore points raised that could benefit the strategy. · it was acknowledged that significant service improvement had been introduced to support the reduction of missed collections. · would encourage residents to be part of the twelve-week engagement process if approved by Cabinet. Resolved: The Sustainable Resource Strategy Report be approved.
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