Agenda, decisions and minutes

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).

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

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

Minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2023, attached.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2023 be signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2023 be signed as a correct record.

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

There were no items raised as a matter of urgency.

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/43), attached.

RESOLVED that

a)     The position with regard to the Waste Recycling Advisers (WRA) contract and support the decision to reduce the contract extension period be noted

b)     The position regarding the Clean Devon Liaison Officer be noted and agreed that the Clean Devon Partnership can reallocate the funding according to their priorities

c)     The plan to develop a proposal for the October committee following a behaviour change review workshop be noted

The Committee considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/43) which detailed information about the Waste Recycling Advisers contract, Clean Devon Liaison Officer and Clean Devon Partnership, and the plan to bring proposals for 2025-26 to the October meeting of the committee as part of the budget process.

Members were reminded that the approved budget for 2024-25 was just over £200,000 which included the Waste and Recycling Advisors (WRA) contract for three staff providing advice to residents on the doorstep in targeted areas. However, the current contractor Resources Futures was unable to continue to deliver the service for the price tended in April 2021 plus inflation due to reasons including cost of living wage increases, and higher HR costs due to staff sickness and turnover.

Following negotiations it was agreed that the service would deliver for 10.5 months with the contract terminating in February 2025.

The Clean Devon Liaison Officer post which was on a contract extended for a second year had recently resigned and it was proposed that the Clean Devon Partnership, due to meet the following day, consider options on how to best to use the remaining £20,000 according to its priorities.

Proposed activities for Don’t Let Devon go to Waste for the year included supporting National Food Waste Week, National Recycle Week, the Reuse Project and a focus on high carbon materials. It was also envisaged the £9,000 extension to the food waste work would be used to offer kitchen caddies to households.

Looking ahead it was proposed that a workshop session during summer discuss an effective alternative to the WRA contract for 2025/26. Further work building on the successful Teignbridge campaign around food waste was also suggested.

Member discussion with officers included the following points:

• Clarity over the distribution of kitchen caddies and it was acknowledged that there was not a universal process across the county.
• Members praised an information booklet that had been given to residents and were informed that a slimmer version of this was being produced and would be made available to households
• Exeter would not lose their allocated 2 weeks of WRA support “lost” due to sickness
• Updating the website to also include achievements of the joint waste approach

RESOLVED that

a)     The position with regard to the Waste Recycling Advisers (WRA) contract be noted and the decision to reduce the contract extension period be supported

b)     The position regarding the Clean Devon Liaison Officer be noted and agreed that the Clean Devon Partnership can reallocate the funding according to their priorities

c)     The plan to develop a proposal for the October committee following a behaviour change review workshop be noted.

Presentation of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport

The presentation regarding the Food Waste Project 2023-24 was noted.

The Committee received a joint presentation from officers from Devon County Council and Teignbridge District Council on the Food Waste Project for 2023-24.

Members were reminded that in February 2023 they had approved a funding proposal for £82,895 to address the issue of food waste in the residual waste stream.

The project objectives included tailoring activities and messaging by focussing on types of food discarded, overcoming barriers identified, developing and delivering communication activities and to monitor and evaluate results. Marketing materials were developed in partnership with consistent messages for use by all partners and pre and post communication monitoring took place in the monitored area.

The campaign activities included encouraging people to use their food waste collection service and raising awareness that any bag could be used to line food waste caddies. Food items that could be added to food waste collections were highlighted and there were prize draws to encourage participation.

Officers also took part in events and school projects in Teignbridge to promote the campaign.

The pilot results showed there was a 14 per cent increase in participation in the food waste collection service following the campaign. The number of people in Teignbridge who claimed to use their food waste collection increased by 17 per cent. There had also been lots of engagement with the public including many visits to the Food Waste web page with 21,046 clicks related to Recycle Devon or Teignbridge activities.

Lessons learnt included that partnership working was successful, the two month preparation time for the project was too tight, measuring collected food waste by individual household within the pilot area would have been more insightful, larger organiser events would have more impact, prize draws attracted many people, and disseminating the food waste guide to a larger audience was recommended.

There was also a countywide food waste collection campaign from October to November which included additional support for North Devon. From February to March phase 3 of the campaign encouraged people to reduce their food waste at home which included additional advertising in Exeter and the South Hams.

Both of these resulted in a significant amount of clicks to the campaign landing page via the paid campaign with 34,337 page views overall. Information on additional food waste campaigns such as pumpkin rescue and help your Christmas food budget go further was provided.

Member discussion with officers included the following points:

• The use of compostable bags for kitchen caddies were not popular with workers at the anaerobic digester site
• Focussing on the issue of reducing waste and promoting that message
• Data on breakdown costs which was available to all districts
• The importance of continued analysis and focus on the whole picture and not just government targets

The presentation regarding the Food Waste Project 2023-24 was noted.

At its meeting on 17 October 2023, the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/23/71) relating to Waste Performance Statistics (Minute *38 refers). The Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee RESOLVED to (a) note the performance statistics for 2022/23; (b) continue to support Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee (DASWC) policies and actions which encourage householders to use waste and recycling services effectively and efficiently to improve recycling performance and reduce costs; and (c) ask Cabinet to review the criteria for joining the Devon Shared Savings Agreement. (Agenda for Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee on Tuesday, 17th October, 2023, 2.15 pm - Democracy in Devon (Minute 38))

The request was considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 8th November and it was resolved that in line with previously agreed delegated powers (Cabinet, 13th April 2016 Min*10 (c)) the request to review the criteria for joining the Devon Shared Savings Agreement made by the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee be considered by the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities and Equality, Director of Finance and Public Value, and Director of Legal and Democratic Services (Agenda for Cabinet on Wednesday, 8th November, 2023, 10.30 am - Democracy in Devon (Minute 424))

The criteria were reviewed by the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities and Equality, Director of Finance and Public Value, and Director of Legal and Democratic Services, and it was decided that no changes be made with the reasons set out in the linked Officer decision and report (Officer Decision & Report)

The decision to make no changes to the joining criteria for the Shared Savings Scheme following a review was noted.

At its meeting on 17 October 2023, the Committee considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/23/71) relating to Waste Performance Statistics and asked for Cabinet to review the criteria for joining the Devon Shared Savings Agreement.

The request was considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 8th November and it was resolved that in line with previously agreed delegated powers (Cabinet, 13th April 2016 Min*10 (c)) the request to review the criteria for joining the Devon Shared Savings Agreement made by the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee be considered by the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities and Equality, Director of Finance and Public Value, and Director of Legal and Democratic Services.

The criteria were reviewed by those postholders and it was decided no changes be made with the reasons set out in the officer decision and report.

The decision to make no changes to the joining criteria for the Shared Savings Scheme following a review was noted.

Presentation of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport

The Update on National Waste Policy presentation was noted.

The County Waste Manager gave a presentation updating the Committee on National Waste Policy. Topics covered were Collection and Packaging Reforms (CPR), UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) – inclusion of Energy Recovery Facilities (ERFs), impact of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) Regulations at Household Waste Recycling Centres and timelines.

The CPR programme includes an Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme in which obligated packaging producers pay the full net costs of managing household packaging that is collected effectively and efficiently by local authorities. Simpler Recycling compliments this as it  is aimed at improving recycling be ensuring a comprehensive, consistent service across England collecting the same core materials. It is still planned to introduce a deposit return scheme to enable consumers to return in-scope containers to retailers.

From 1 April 2025 local authorities will be compensated by packaging producers for the costs of efficiently and effectively managing household packaging waste. However, by 1 April 2028 effectiveness assessments are also due to start and less effective local authorities may be subject to payment deductions.

Regulations had also been laid to implement Simpler Recycling which included introducing a core set of recyclable materials to be collected from businesses by 31^st March 2025, weekly kerbside collection of food waste from households by 31^st March 2026 and statutory guidance is likely to be published stating that councils should not provide a residual waste collection any less frequently than fortnightly.

With regard to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, the aim is to decarbonise the Energy from waste (ERFs) plants as fossil fuel emitters of CO2. A consultation on details of how it will be implemented and its potential impact is currently open.

Implementing the POPS Regulations affecting managing waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres would impact on waste upholstered domestic seating such as sofas and chairs. It will require separate management by December 2025 – currently it was mixed with other residual waste and it was likely to only be accepted at those sites able to accommodate an extra skip from December.

The National Resources and Waste Policy Timeline focused to 2028 was particularly highlighted and showed a busy period with lots of deadlines.

Members and officers discussion included:

• Decarbonising and managing waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres
• Extended producer responsibility schemes for textiles
• Decarbonising small energy from waste plants – mitigation methods can still be applied such as taking plastics out of the feedstock & driving District Heating Schemes.
• The significant impact of separating waste upholstered domestic seating  under the POPS Regulations
• Making the presentations available to view and it was agreed these would be added to the website.

The Update on National Waste Policy presentation was noted.

The next meetings are scheduled for:

15 October 2024 and 11 February 2025

The County Council’s Calendar of Meetings is available at:

http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=294

The next meetings scheduled for 15 October 2024 and 11 February 2025 were noted.

The County Council’s Calendar of Meetings is available at:

http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=294