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=4387&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 Sub Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 30 June 2016 for approval.

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 a review of the Scottish Government’s Charter for Household Recycling in Scotland (Recycling Charter) and associated code of practice and their implications for Aberdeen City Council.

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee -

(a)       notes the aims and content of the Recycling Charger align with the Aberdeen City Waste Strategy;

(b)       notes that in signing the Recycling Charter, the Council commits to ‘design our household collection services to take account of the Code of Practice for the variety of housing types and geography in our community.  In doing so, over time, we will establish common collection systems’;

(c)        notes that formally signing up to the Charter will not commit the Council to any expenditure, only to exploring the options developed from a transition plan to be developed with Zero Waste Scotland;

(d)       notes that the current and developing collection system does not match that of the Code of Practice and that the timeframe required to adopt fully the collections methodology is likely to be long without significant external funding to offset investment already made; and

(e)       recommends to the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee on 1 December 2016 that the Aberdeen City Council signs the Recycling Charter.

Mr Lawrence, Waste and Recycling Manager spoke to the report and advised that the Charter aimed to align waste and recycling collection services across Scotland’s local authorities.  He advised that the Charter and Code of Practice did not fully align to the Council’s current and developing collection and recycling systems, however, the Charter did not aim to force changes which made no financial or service sense for an individual local authority.

Mr Lawrence further advised that additional funding to make changes to services was unlikely, however, by signing up to the Charter the Council would be able to apply for any available funding from Zero Waste Scotland in the future and would be in a better position to engage with and influence the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland by demonstrating current practice.

The Sub Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Sub Committee had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which sought agreement of a policy and procedure for dealing with collections of mixed recycling when contamination is evident and to clarify how these are identified as contaminated.

The report recommended:

(a)       that the Sub Committee approves the proposed Mixed Recycling Contamination Policy as outlined in Appendix 1 to the report; and

(b)       that the Sub Committee instructs officers to report back to the appropriate committee in November 2017 with a review of the implementation of the policy and recommendations relating to any changes to the policy.

Ms Walker, Waste Strategy Manager, spoke to the report and advised that the current collection procedure did not need a policy, however the introduction of mixed recycling which was due to rollout on in March 2017 would need a policy in place which would reflect the aims of Section 2 of the Scottish Government’s Code of Practice for household recycling in Scotland as part of the Charter for Household Recycling in Scotland.

Reference was made to section 7 of the report (Communication) and members suggested that aerosols should be added to the list of accepted items.  It was also suggested that the diary dates for collections to residents be communicated electronically and that all elected members be circulated the information via email for their information.

The proposed policy contained in Appendix A was referred to and it was suggested that an ‘easing in’ period be allowed during the initial phases of rollout.  Mr Lawrence confirmed that there would be a transitional period where residents would be advised and educated on the policy where needed and that this transition period would also be used to further advise and train collection crews.

Mr Lawrence advised that details of bin collections were circulated to council tenants by the housing team on occupation and HMO landlords were also issued with details, however there was no way of knowing whether this information was passed on to tenants.  Communication with housing associations and the student accommodation managers was being undertaken to target areas of low uptake.

Councillor Corall sought advice on how to deal with residents who refuse to recycle or use the correct bins.  Mr Lawrence explained that fixed penalties for fly tipping could be issued, however in a large block of flats it could be difficult to correctly identify the resident involved.  Such penalty notices were pursued by the Procurator Fiscal however the priority for pursuing such fines tended to be low.  Mr Lawrence suggested that education and engagement with such residents would prove more beneficial.

Clarification was sought as to whether the report and appendix formed a new policy which would need to go to the appropriate committee for approval.  However it was noted that as this was a procedure, it would not require referral to the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee.

The Sub Committee resolved:

(i)         to request that officers issue communication to residents in regards  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Sub Committee had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which (a) set out to clarify the procedure for dealing with collections of waste or recycling which were not collected by the Council; and (b) set out to define what constituted a ‘missed’ collection.

The report recommended:

that the Zero Waste Management Sub Committee approves the proposed Missed Bins Policy as outlined in Appendix 1 to the report.

Ms Walker spoke to the report and outlined the current procedures for missed bin collections and the costs involved.  With reference to Appendix A, Ms Walker advised that the date of implementation of 1 November 2016 had been amended to January 2017.

Mr Lawrence advised that the fleet was equipped with 360 degree cameras which could capture images for evidence in the event of a complaint being made about the non collection of refuse and collection crews updated records to note where bins weren’t available for collection as they visited each property.  He further advised that following the implementation of a new in cab recording system attributes could be noted against particular households to aid the resident and the collection crews.

The Sub Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendation.

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

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee note the report.

Mr Lawrence spoke to the report and advised the Sub Committee that the Scottish Government would not contest the planning decision notice.  He further advised that the Council and Scottish Gas Network (SGN) had concluded the missives to acquire the site with the conditions outlined in the report needing to be met, including independent certification to confirm clearance of any site contamination before final handover of the site would be concluded which was anticipated to be mid 2018.

Mr Lawrence advised that following the adoption of a second inter authority agreement the procurement phase had commenced which included the continued appointment of Ms Linda Ovens and the recruitment of a project manager and project administrator and that the project would now be known as NESS Energy (North East Scotland Shared Energy from Waste).

Mr Lawrence advised that a further update would be provided at the meeting of the Zero Waste Management Sub Committee in February 2017.

Mr Lawrence advised that stakeholder participation was ongoing with the stakeholder group but SEPA would be reducing their participation until 2018 when they would be involved in the next stage of the project, however an officer would attend if specific environmental input was needed.  Members were advised that the stakeholder meetings would reduce in number and minutes from the stakeholder group and joint members working group would be circulated to the Zero Waste Sub Committee for information.

The Sub Committee resolved:

(i)         to note that future minutes from the stakeholder group and joint members working group would be circulated to the Zero Waste Sub Committee for information; and

(ii)        to otherwise note the report and updates provided.

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

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee note the report.

Mr Lawrence spoke to the report and advised that the recycling facility was on schedule with key elements now installed and would be commissioned in February/ March 2017 and that staff and equipment would move from Kittybrewster in February.  Mr Lawrence referred to the City Centre Masterplan and advised that rollout of communal recycling to some areas of the city centre would be held back until April or May 2017 due to revision of street furniture to be installed under the masterplan and that it was envisaged that some areas would retain individual bins.

The Sub Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendation contained within the report.

The Sub Committee were advised that the meeting dates for 2017 were as follows:

Tuesday, 21 February at 2.00pm

Tuesday, 23 May at 2.00pm

Thursday, 29 June at 10.00am

Tuesday, 3 October at 2.00pm

Tuesday, 28 November at 2.00pm.

The Sub Committee resolved:

(i)         to agree the dates for 2017; and

(ii)        to undertake a site visit of the waste recycling facility prior to the meeting on 21 February with details to be circulated in due course.

- Councillor Jean Morrison, MBE, Convener.