Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall

Contact: Fred Whitehouse, 01392 381362  Email: fred.whitehouse@devon.gov.uk

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Items
Note No. Item

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15.

Election of Chair and Vice Chair

In accordance with the agreed protocol the Chair shall be a County Council or Torbay Council appointee with the Vice-Chair being a District Council appointee (both with Executive responsibility for waste management).

Decision:

RESOLVED that Councillor Croad and Councillor Jung be elected Chair and Vice-Chair respectively for the ensuing year.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that Councillor Croad and Councillor Jung be elected Chair and Vice-Chair respectively for the ensuing year.

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16.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 203 KB

Minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2021, attached

Decision:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2021 be signed as a correct record.

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17.

Items Requiring Urgent Attention

Items which in the opinion of the Chairman should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

Minutes:

There was no item raised as a matter of urgency.

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18.

Terms of Reference pdf icon PDF 92 KB

The operating rules and Terms of Reference for the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee are attached, for information.

Minutes:

The Committee noted its operating rules and Terms of Reference.

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19.

Budget Statement pdf icon PDF 229 KB

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/7), attached.

Decision:

RESOLVED that

 

(a) the position in relation to the 2021/22 underspend be noted; and

(b) the proposal to return to the October committee to determine how this should be spent be approved.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/7) which detailed the outturn of the Committee’s budget from 2021/22 and proposed that a decision on how to allocate this underspend was made at the October committee.

 

Overall the underspend totalled £57,895. This was for a number of reasons such as (in the case of the Don’t Let Devon Go To Waste campaign) impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Clean Devon underspend was due to the cost of the campaign being less than was budgeted for. Members were invited to consider and, before the next meeting of this committee, put forward suggestions to their officers as to how the budget underspend could be spent. One option would be to use the funds to address the outcomes of the residual waste analysis that was being undertaken later in the year.

 

It was MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Slade and

 

RESOLVED that

 

(a) the position in relation to the 2021/22 underspend be noted; and

(b) the proposal to return to the October committee to determine how this should be spent be approved.

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20.

Resource and Waste Management Strategy for Devon and Torbay - Options For Working Closer Together pdf icon PDF 576 KB

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/7), attached.

Decision:

RESOLVED that the proposal to look at converging some elements of the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee authorities’ services be approved.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/8) which outlined potential options for convergence of services across Devon and Torbay.

 

It was highlighted to Members that the aligned waste collection service since 2013 had been very successful, with officers now looking to move onto further areas that could be aligned between authorities to improve service delivery, customer satisfaction and facilitate consistent communications across Devon and Torbay. Areas for early convergence were highlighted in the Report, such as streamlining garden waste collection over the Christmas period and annually reviewing material sales outlets.

 

It was MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Dewhirst and

 

RESOLVED that the proposal to look at converging some elements of the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee authorities’ services be approved.

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21.

Waste Compositional Analysis: Update

Waste Client Officer (SWISCo, Torbay Council) to report

Minutes:

Members received a verbal report from the Waste Client Officer (SWISCo, Torbay Council) on planned waste compositional analysis work.

 

This would consist of 200 households from each district across Devon and Torbay having their household waste collected and analysed. Analysis of six recycling centres would also be undertaken, which was new to this process for Devon. The research would be undertaken by M.E.L, who had undertaken previous waste compositional analysis for Devon which would ensure consistency with previous research.

 

It was explained to Members that the work would take place across three weeks in October 2022, with the period until then set aside for engagement with districts to help select the targeted households. The households would be picked based on socioeconomic classification.

 

In Member discussion it was noted that previous waste compositional analysis work that was undertaken had yielded some areas of concern  and hoped that targeted work that had been undertaken since then would lead to positive changes in the waste disposal habits of residents including the reduction of food waste.

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22.

Projects funded by the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee Budget & the Lottery Funded Food Rescue Project

Presentations on:

 

(a)       Waste and Recycling Advisors (WRA) contract

 

Recycling and Waste Officer, East Devon District Council

 

(b)       Clean Devon

 

Senior Waste Manager (data and performance), Devon County Council

 

(c)        Food Rescue project

 

Food Rescue Project Manager, Devon County Council

 

 

Minutes:

Members received three presentations on projects designed to reduce waste in various ways, two of which had been funded by the Committee’s budget.

 

(a) Waste and Recycling Advisors (WRA) Contract

 

The Recycling and Waste Officer, East Devon District Council, presented on the Waste and Recycling Advisors (WRA) project which commenced in 2017, with aims to reduce food waste, increase recycling levels and increase resident awareness of their waste habits, among other outcomes.

 

A team of three advisors, who worked in three to four local authority areas each, engaged with residents via doorstepping to help understand their issues and concerns around waste management as well as help educate them. They also had provision to order waste containers for residents, increasing both convenience for residents & recycling levels. Other tasks undertaken included investigating best practice for HMOs, on-street auditing of recycling banks and promotion of specific recycling schemes.

 

Although it was difficult to measure effectiveness of the scheme objectively in terms of tonnage, contact rate with residents had been good and verbal feedback received had been largely positive, with residents pleased to see someone representing the Council available to assist and advise them.

 

(b) Clean Devon

 

The Senior Waste Manager (data and performance), Devon County Council, presented on the Clean Devon project.

 

Launched in March 2020 and working on a limited budget of £7,000 per year, Clean Devon aimed to involve numerous agencies and Local Authorities under a partnership of collaboration to reduce littering and fly tipping and to preserve Devon’s natural landscape and protect its wildlife.

 

Member discussion centred around litter picking and the problems that communities often face such as the requirement for insurance and risk assessments which could dissuade them from getting involved. Officers noted the problem and assured Members there was work underway to streamline the process and explore ways to make this easier for residents, but that personal safety must still form a significant part of the process.

 

(c) Food Rescue Project

 

The Food Rescue Project Manager, Devon County Council, presented on the Food Rescue Project, a lottery-funded project which aimed to redistribute good-to-eat, surplus food and avoid it going to waste where possible.

 

It was highlighted that across the UK, food redistribution had tripled since 2020 to the equivalent of 220 million meals being redistributed. There was scope to redistribute more.

 

Under the project, two community fridges had been opened and maintained: one in Okehampton and one in Exeter Library. Together these had already redistributed around 850kg of food and were freely accessible to members of the public, run by volunteers, and operated according to strict health and safety protocols.

 

Gleaning, a practice by which crops are harvested by volunteers that would otherwise be uneconomical for farmers to harvest, was also highlighted as an activity being undertaken to increase food redistribution.

 

The Food Rescue Project were also involved in encouraging the use of the free food sharing app Olio which allowed residents to share otherwise unwanted food and prevent it going to waste.