Agenda item

a)    That the Executive agrees to North Herts District Council awarding the waste, recycling and street cleansing contract to the preferred bidder, on behalf of East Herts Council, as identified in Appendix 1 Part 2 of this report;

b)   That the Executive agrees to approve the formation of a joint mobilisation project board to include the Executive Members responsible for digital transformation as well as the Executive Member covering waste, recycling and street cleansing services for both EHC and North Herts to monitor the progress of the mobilisation of the waste, recycling and street cleansing contract;

c)    That Executive has regard for the draft statutory guidance in Appendix 6 and taking into account the matters set out in this Part 2 report and any Part 2 clarifications, reconfirms the decision on the 3-weekly collection frequency of residual waste collections made by Executive as per 2.5 and provides clear reasons for the decision;

d)   The Executive agrees to the commencement of a procurement exercise for the provision of a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and haulage.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability presented the report for the Award of the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract. He said that the report sought the Executive’s approval to allow North Hertfordshire District Council, as the lead authority, to award the contract.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that the waste service was the largest spend each year for East Herts, and it was a high-profile service that had a significant impact and influence on the council’s ability to achieve its carbon reduction aims. He said that the Executive agreed the service design in December 2023 and officers have been involved in a competitive dialogue to award the contract to the preferred bidder.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that the government had undertaken a consultation on proposed statutory guidance relating to recycling proposals. He said that some of the elements of the guidance were not aligned with the service changes in the proposed contract, especially the frequency of waste collections. He said that the council had received independent legal advice contained in the part 2 appendix but said it was not prudent for the council to delay this decision.

Councillor Hoskin proposed that the recommendations in the report be supported. Councillor Goldspink seconded the proposal.

Councillor Brittain referred to the Letchworth depot and asked for the latest update.

Councillor Hoskin said the depot was not available as of the 9^th July. He said the recommendation remained the same and North Herts would award the contract, if agreed, on the immediate arrival of the documentation.

Councillor Daar referred to page 19 and the data from Wales about three weekly waste collections which showed that two councils were able to increase their recycling rates. She referred to page 17 and asked for more details about the soft plastic collections and the survival bags.

The Waste Shared Service Manager said that the new contract would allow residents to put soft plastics in loose in the mixed recycling bin. She said the team were still consulting with various material recovery facilities to understand the sorting technology available to sort the materials. She said that the survival bags were a backup plan if the technology was not sufficient so residents would put their soft recycling into these bags in their recycling bin.

Councillor Hoskin said the council were part of a trial that was running nationally.

The Waste Shared Service Manager said that this was part of the Flex Collect trial funded by the Flexible Plastics Fund. She said that the government have indicated that all councils would be expected to collect soft plastics by 2027 and the trial was looking at the types of soft plastics being recycled and how it could be recycled and processed. The trial would be expanded into East Herts when the survival bags had been delivered.

Councillor E Buckmaster spoke on behalf of the Herts Waste Partnership and said that they felt three weekly collections were the way to go and there was enough flexibility in the guidelines to move to three weekly collections if there was a good reason. He said there would be challenges around the additional containers for residents but said it was important to start getting food waste collected separately. He said that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed communicating to residents the collection cycle as no two weeks would be the same in a six-week period. He felt this was positive and could see recycling rates increasing.

Councillor Hoskin said a large part of the work after this decision would be communication and engagement with residents and said that councillors would play a vital role in this.

Councillor Crystall said that the project had been running for several years and started under the previous administration. He said it was satisfying to see change happening for the better and it was something to be celebrated.

The motion to support the recommendations having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – That (A) the Executive agrees to North Herts District Council awarding the waste, recycling and street cleansing contract to the preferred bidder, on behalf of East Herts Council, as identified in Appendix 1 Part 2 of this report;

(B)   the Executive agrees to approve the formation of a joint mobilisation project board to include the Executive Members responsible for digital transformation as well as the Executive Member covering waste, recycling and street cleansing services for both EHC and North Herts to monitor the progress of the mobilisation of the waste, recycling and street cleansing contract;

(C)   The Executive has regard for the draft statutory guidance in Appendix 6 and taking into account the matters set out in this Part 2 report and any Part 2 clarifications, reconfirms the decision on the 3-weekly collection frequency of residual waste collections made by Executive as per 2.5 and provides clear reasons for the decision;

(D)      The Executive agrees to the commencement of a procurement exercise for the provision of a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and haulage.