Agenda item

The Head of Environmental Services submitted a report updating Members in respect of what was being done to improve recycling performance in East Herts.

Members were advised that recycling levels had fallen across East Herts, most likely due to the recession and an increasing trend towards the use of electronic media.  This is a national trend.  This reduction had had a significant impact on the Council’s income from the sale of recycling materials.

The Head of Environmental Services stated that in an effort to increasing dry recycling capture, Officers would be sending information to residents in areas with a lower than average recycling weight per household, in an effort to encourage them to recycle more.  Areas with large numbers of  flats had not been targeted by this exercise as their recycling tends to be lower anyway.

The Committee was advised that bin hangers are being left on residents’ bins to encourage increased recycling and, where necessary, ensure any extra demand for recycling boxes was met.  Officers had issued 2000 bin hangers already and there had already been 91 requests for additional boxes.  Officers would report back to the Committee in terms of whether the campaign had been successful.

Councillor E Buckmaster emphasised the importance of reaching the right people with this campaign to avoid inadvertently upsetting residents who already recycled as much as they could under current arrangements.

Councillor M Carver, as the local ward Member, advised that he would have preferred more notice of the start of the scheme.  He stated that he had been contacted by a number of residents.

Councillor P Gray commented that it was important to target young people to encourage recycling behaviour early.  He asked whether there was work taking place with local schools to educate pupils throughout East Herts. 

Councillor J Wyllie supported the use of the bin hangers to promote recycling and felt that, while the environmental benefits had its place, communicating the costs of not recycling was important.  Residents needed to know that landfill was expensive.

In response to a question about the content of the bin hanger and how it communicated which materials could be recycled, the Head of Environmental Services stressed that leaflets and bin hangers were not the primary method of communication as a comprehensive calendar was issued several times a year that explained the “dos and don’ts” of using the brown bin and the blue and green boxes for recycling. 

Members were reminded of the wide range of activities which had been taking place in schools across Hertfordshire as part of the Waste Aware campaign.

Members were advised of the methodology residents should use when leaving out recycling for the refuse crews, and also explained what could not be recycled and why.  The Committee was also advised of the costs associated with landfill and recycling.

The Head of Environmental Services advised Members of the style of wording that was used in the literature sent to the areas where recycling rates were low.  He stated that individual residents were not being targeted. It was not possible to know how much individual households were recycling.  The tonnage of waste collected by each collection round had been divided by the number of properties to establish the average weight per household.  This showed which areas produced the lowest amount of recycling per household.  It was possible that some households in an area were recycling as much as they could while others were not recycling at all.

The Committee was advised that research had indicated that the groups that recycled the least were the most affluent residents and the poorest.  The residents who were classed as middle income were the group that often achieved the best rates of recycling. 

Members were advised that some villages appeared to be highly motivated to recycle but collection rounds were designed for efficiency and cut across a number of different communities.

The Head of Environmental Services agreed to meet with Councillor M Carver outside the meeting to consider the methodology and the specific implications for his ward.

The Chief Executive and Director of Customer and Community Services explained that Officers saw this campaign as a simple, non judgemental and inexpensive way to improve recycling rates across East Herts, particularly in the areas where the rate was low.

In response to comments from Councillors R Beeching and P Gray in respect of the Council’s policy regarding brown bins, the Head of Environmental Services reiterated the policy of the Authority.

The Committee received the report and agreed to have a report later in the year when the recycling rates in these areas had been reviewed following the campaign.

RESOLVED – that the approach taken to improve recycling performance in areas where take up was low, be supported.