Agenda and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be located at the following link:

http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=439&MId=4383&Ver=4

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

The Convener advised that this would be her last meeting of the Zero Waste Management Sub Committee as she would be retiring from Council prior to the forthcoming Council elections.  She thanked members and officers for their commitment to the Sub Committee and the major projects which had been initiated and were now nearing completion during her time as Convener and hoped that following the elections in May the current members would continue on the Sub Committee.

The Sub Committee resolved:

to concur with the Convener’s remarks and to wish her well in retirement.

The Sub Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 22 November 2016.

The Sub Committee resolved:

to approve the minute.

The Sub Committee had before it a report by the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which provided an update on progress to date of the Joint Energy from Waste Project.

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee notes the report.

Mr Lawrence spoke to the report and advised that the deadline for any applications for a judicial review had passed and no applications had been received.  Scottish Gas had commenced clearance of the site by starting to move an existing gas mains which had meant temporarily closing the adjacent waste recycling facility; the waste recycling facility was due to re-open shortly once this stage of works was completed.  Mr Lawrence highlighted that a major factor involved the process of slowly draining rainwater which had accumulated in the gas collector during the years it had lain unused which would take approximately four to six months due to the size of the drainage culvert being used to disperse the water but this should not impact on the handover date.

Mr Lawrence advised that the procurement phase of the project had started with a bidders’ day held on 3 February 2017 and he expressed his thanks to Councillor Cooney and Councillor Merson (Aberdeenshire Council) for their presence and their commitment and excitement at the project had been noted by potential bidders.  The three Moray Councillors were also very committed to the project however they had been unable to attend the bidders’ day.  Key players in the sector had attended and interest was strong.  Mr Lawrence explained that recent changes in procedures for submitting the notice to proceed with procurement in the Official Journal of European Union had led to Ms Linda Ovens, Project Director and the project team having to produce the necessary procurement documentation prior to the submission to the Journal which had incurred a delay of one week.  The next key point for the project would be the initial submission of bids to pre-qualify for the procurement process by 20 March 2017 with a shortleet process to allow discussion with four bidders before the further down selection at the end of 2017 to two bidders.

Mr Lawrence advised the project was now formally known as the NESS (North East Scotland Shared Energy from Waste) and a website was under development, details of which would be circulated to the media team in due course.

In response to a question from Councillor Finlayson about additional monitoring station locations, Mr Lawrence advised that no responses had been received from stakeholders.  He advised that any additional monitoring needed to have a recognisable purpose and value.  Types and locations of any additional monitoring equipment would need to be checked by SEPA as being appropriate for monitoring for any contaminants from the site but also be able to discount any particulates borne from the sea and vehicles.  He further advised that SEPA had not requested any additional air quality monitoring.  Mr Mark Reilly, Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment, advised that any monitoring could only  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Sub Committee had before it a report by the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which provided an update on progress of the mixed recycling elements of the Zero Waste Project.

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee notes the report.

Mr Lawrence spoke to the report and advised that construction work at the facility had progressed to the installation of the material handling plant and fire suppression equipment.  Mr Lawrence emphasised that fire suppression had been a major consideration at all stages of the project and stringent processes and specialist equipment had been installed at all stages of material handling and storage to mitigate against any fire risks.

Mr Lawrence advised that waste operatives and vehicles would remain at the Kittybrewster depot to allow for final drainage works to be completed at the Altens site and the project was on target for completion in June 2017 when staff and vehicles would then move to the site.

First Bus had agreed to extend the Route 18 bus to Altens and ample parking would be available at the Altens East site for staff starting work before bus services were running.

Mr Lawrence advised that mixed feedback had been received on the new co-mingled kerbside recycling with concerns such as the need to store another bin and the size of bins now being too large for some smaller properties, however feedback had been generally positive, particularly regarding the ability to recycle plastic pots, tubs and trays.  Households could request smaller bins if preferred.

Mr Lawrence advised that an extensive survey of property types had been carried out before the introduction of the new recycling scheme and it was likely that there would be some areas where a kerbside scheme may not be practical due to property type or ownership.  Negotiations were ongoing with owners and factors to convert these properties to the communal scheme.  It was anticipated that more households would be willing to change to the new service once it was implemented in their area.  He further advised that those properties which were still using the ‘bag and box’ scheme were unable to recycle black plastic until those properties had been rolled out to the new mixed re-cycling scheme, however residents were able to use any communal recycling bins within their area.

The Sub Committee resolved:

(i)         that Mr Lawrence would contact all Councillors asking that they highlight any areas within their wards where conversion to communal waste and recycling might be difficult to implement;

(ii)        to thank officers for their work in distributing the Waste Less Recycle More leaflet attached at appendix 2 to the report to 70,000 households across the City; and

(iii)       to otherwise note the report.

23 May 2017 at 2.00pm in the Town House.

The Sub Committee were advised that the next meeting of the Sub Committee was scheduled for 23 May 2017 at 2.00pm in the Town House.

The Sub Committee resolved:

to note the date for the next meeting.

The Convener closed the meeting by thanking members and officers for their support and positive engagement with the zero waste projects whilst she had been Convener.

Councillor Delaney concurred with the Convener’s remarks and also commented that he felt officers had worked well with members of the Sub Committee to achieve the goals of the zero waste projects and had always followed good practice and kept political differences out of discussions.  Councillor Delaney wished the Convener a long and happy retirement.

Councillor Dickson concurred and commented that it was clear to see the Convener’s drive, passion and commitment to the work of the Zero Waste Sub Committee and commended the Convener on behalf of the SNP Group.

Councillor Donnelly recognised that much of the work had been instigated due to legislative changes but also thanked the Convener for her efforts in overseeing the tremendous steps towards the changes required and commented that he was sorry to see the Convener stand down and wished her well for the future.

The Convener thanked the members for their kind words.

- COUNCILLOR JEAN MORRISON, MBE, Convener.