Agenda and draft minutes

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

https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=439&MId=4517&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 meeting of 3 October 2017.

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 with the Energy from Waste Project.

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee note the report.

Ms Pam Walker, Waste Strategy Manager, spoke to the report and advised that the Energy from Waste project was now known as the NESS Energy Project.

Ms Walker advised that dialogue had been entered into with four potential bidders and that it was anticipated that detailed proposals would be submitted by the four bidders by December 2017.  An evaluation process would be undertaken to reduce this to two preferred bidders to enter into further detailed discussions prior to submission of their final tenders.  The preferred bidder would then be selected by autumn 2018.

Ms Walker advised that the Inter Authority Agreement 3 (IAA3) outlined parent mechanisms and responsibilities of all parties and would outline the process to be followed should there be a dispute between any of the parties involved.  The IAA3 would be agreed by all three local authorities prior to the contract being awarded to the preferred bidder.

In response to questions from members, Mr Mark Reilly, Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment, advised that a report in relation to section 3.5 of the report (procurement) would be considered at the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure Committee in due course.  The members were further advised that officers from the energy team were involved in the project and that the three local authorities would need to reach agreement on how excess energy produced would be used after heating demands had been met.

Mr Reilly advised that a holistic approach was being taken with regards to heating and energy production which included the zero waste projects and that the aim to provide low cost heat and power to homes was central to the commitments made at the beginning of the projects.  Furthermore, to gain an Energy from Waste permit from SEPA, a use for the heat and energy generated had to be identified.  He advised that the heat would be used for the local district heating network with any excess heat then being distributed elsewhere.

The Sub Committee resolved:

to note the report and the updates provided.

The Sub Committee had before it a report by the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which provided an update on the Waste Service in relation to the Altens East Recycling and Recovery Centre and the collection service.

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee note the report.

Mr Reilly advised that the design specification was not quite being met during operations; throughput was going well and quality and recovery of recyclate was good, however there were still minor areas of plant which needed to be reviewed to allow the plant to fully meet the design specification and until that stage was reached the Council would retain some funds.  On the whole, the plant is running well and producing high quality outputs.

Ms Walker was thanked for the noticeable improvements in collections and less rubbish being left lying in some wards.  In response to a query regarding why some of the smaller lorries had been removed from certain routes and reinstated, Mr Reilly advised that larger vehicles were being used where possible to minimise the number of vehicles and crews required to maintain the same level of service.  The smaller vehicles had been re-routed to provide a service to those areas only accessible to smaller vehicles as the process had evolved.  It had also become clear during the rollout period that certain routes posed particular challenges once the larger vehicles had been introduced which had necessitated a change of vehicle

Councillor Cormie advised that the pilot scheme to remove surplus bins in the Midstocket/Rosemount ward had gone well with a noticeable improvement in the presentation of the area.  Ms Walker advised that following the bin tagging scheme and subsequent removal of unclaimed bins, the waste team had not received any complaints about bins being removed and there was no issue with residual waste being left lying due to reducing the bin capacity in the area.  Ms Walker further advised that the process of removing bins from the streets was working well and confirmed that those properties without suitable storage facilities or areas for bins would continue to use the pavement to store their bins but this was being logged in the database.

In response to a query regarding the timescale to introduce the remaining communal bins, Ms Walker advised that the Roads team had dedicated two teams to the project and it was possible that a third team could be assigned and the project was likely to take the time allocated to it, however it was being expedited where possible.  Ms Walker further advised that those communities which were planned to be converted to communal facilities would be excluded from the bins on streets campaign.

At this juncture, Mr Reilly advised that Mr Palmer-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ UK had gifted an education centre to be located at the recycling facility.  Mr Reilly further advised that a preferred candidate had been appointed to fill the vacant post of Waste Collection Services Manager and the successful candidate was expected  ...  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 sought approval to introduce cost recovery for postage costs associated with posting bioliners to residents.

The report recommended:

that the Sub Committee support the proposal to introduce a charge to cover the postage costs for bioliners and refer the report to the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee for formal approval.

Ms Walker spoke to the report and advised that an overspend on the postal budget had been highlighted to all services by Facilities and the postage costs associated with bioliners played a significant role in this, which had led to the report before members.  Ms Walker highlighted that bioliners would still be supplied free of charge; it was the postage costs that were being considered.  She advised that since the introduction of the food recycling service, postage costs had increased considerably with an increase in costs of approximately £15,000.  The report stated that those residents who were registered for the assisted collection service would continue to be supplied with liners by post free of charge.  The customer service contact centre had records of assisted collections and therefore details of the residents who would be entitled to receive bioliners free of postal charges could be easily and immediately identified.  Ms Walker highlighted that the recent coverage in the local press had worked in favour of the service in that it had highlighted the availability of free bioliners and the collection points to the general public but acknowledged that more needed to be done to publicise this.

In response to suggestions of increasing the number of collection points, Ms Walker advised that this may incur additional costs to add collection points to the route that the officer involved covered and collection points had to be kept well stocked to ensure an adequate supply for residents.  Ms Walker further advised that the proposed charge for postal services would be subject to a further report once approval of the charge in principle was in place and full costings had been investigated.

The replenishment process for residents within Aberdeenshire was referred to, however Ms Walker advised that the food recycling service operated differently in Aberdeen city due to the communal bins and the larger wheeled bins used in the City in comparison to the small caddies used in Aberdeenshire, officers felt that the risk and impracticability to the public of retrieving rolls of bioliners from the bottom of deeper bins was too high for this to be an option.  Ms Walker highlighted the technical restrictions of hanging a bag or hanger to bins and advised that discussions for options to hang a bin hanger and/ or replacement bioliners on the sides of bins were ongoing with the bioliner supplier and if a solution to this could be found then this would be considered.

Concerns were raised about the potential for a drop in food recycling should there be a charge for bioliners and also that in some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Members are asked to note the date of the next meeting is scheduled for 21 February 2018 at 10.00am in the Town House.

The Sub Committee was advised that the date of its next meeting was 21 February 2018 at 10.00am.

- Councillor Philip Bell, Convener.