Agenda and minutes

Members are required to declare any personal or prejudicial interests and the nature of that interest, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive the minutes of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on 19 March 2008.

The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on 19 March 2008 were accepted by the Board and signed by the Chairman.

The General Manager of RE3 delivered a presentation to the Board on the progress made to date and the objectives and targets of the PFI contract. He reported that in terms of progress to date:

·         Existing sites at Smallmead and Longshot were being managed

·         Provisions had been made for disposal and composting

·         Waste minimisation was being implemented

·         ‘Bring Banks’ were up and running and would be extended

·         Smallmead’s new Household Waste Recycling Centre and Waste Transfer Station had been operational since January 2008.

·         A 25 year Solution is being developed

·         New Waste reception and recycling facilities were being considered

Targets: Recycling & Composting:

·         From 28% to 40% by 2010

·         To 46% by 2015

·         To 50% by the end of the contract

·         Achievement for 2007/08 is 35%

Landfill:

• Reduce amount sent to landfill to 92,500 tonnes by 2010

Recovery:

• Recover value from 45% of arisings by 2011

Members of the Board commended the General Manager for the progress achieved to date and were pleased to note that progress of the contract would be reviewed on an annual basis by the Board, with an exchange of notes being made between the Waste Board and WRG’s bond, highlighting any issues that had arisen.

Members of the Board stressed the importance of educational work around recycling and communicating with the public and schools. It was agreed that a Communications Plan would be brought to the next meeting of the Board.

It was agreed that the Councils’ and WRG would work together in a partnering arrangement to bring benefit to all parties involved and it was welcomed that WRG would share information from its contracts across Europe, of examples of best practice and cross Europe solutions wherever possible.

(Project Director)

The Board received a report that informed them of the progress made in the areas of the EPC Contract and Planning since their last meeting on 19 March 2008.

RESOLVED that Members noted progress made in the areas of the EPC Contract and Planning since the last meeting on 19 March 2008.

To consider the following motion:

That pursuant to Regulation 21 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2000 and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of item 8 which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.

RESOLVED that pursuant to Regulation 21 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2000 and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of item 32 which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.

(Project Director)

The Board received a report that informed them of progress on the Joint Waste PFI Contract which was signed with WRG on 31 October 2006. After a short mobilisation period, the service had commenced on 4 December 2006, when WRG took on the management of the two Key Project Facilities in Bracknell and Reading.

Board Members noted that individual councils were required to individually meet targets of 40% recycling/composting rates, regardless of the collective target that was met. It was noted that each percentage increase became more and more challenging to achieve.

Members thanked all staff and in particular frontline staff who had been involved in collections over the Bank Holiday period. It was noted that collections had been carried out with minimum disruption and inconvenience to residents.

RESOLVED that the Board noted progress since the last meeting on 19 March 2008.

(Project Director)

The Board received a report that looked at the likely characteristics of a Joint Waste Authority with specific reference to and discussion of the potential benefits for the re3 councils.

The Project Manager reported that foundations were already in place for a Joint Waste Authority (JWA). A JWA would be able to pool targets and LATS obligations, simplifying the reporting procedures and, for the re3 councils, the existing mechanisms for sharing the benefits from contractual facilities such as Lakeside. It would not prevent the individual efforts of member councils/residents from being recognised.

He reported that DEFRA were currently gauging the level of interest in JWA and that officers would need to provide a response.

RESOLVED that;

i)                    the Board noted the contents of the report.

ii)                   Members requested that further investigations be carried out on the subject of Joint Waste Authorities leading to a decision report being brought back to the JWDB before the end of 2008.

iii)                 Members approve the submission of an Expression of Interest, in the creation of a Joint Waste Authority to DEFRA on behalf of the re3 councils.

(Project Director)

The Board considered a report that detailed options for food waste collections available to the three councils.

The Project Manager reported that whilst it was not economically viable to build a food waste processing facility in the re3 council area, the possibility of collecting food waste and transporting it to a nearby facility may be viable.

Board Members stressed the importance of educational work and communicating messages to the public. The Project Manager agreed to bring information to the next meeting of the Board on what was being done on this, with the input of Waste Minimisation Officers. He also stated that as food waste was appearing prominently in the media, re3 would be issuing a press release to show what work was being done in this area.

The Board also asked that the LGA Chairman be requested to raise this issue at the LGA.

RESOLVED that

i)                    the Board noted the contents of the report.

ii)                   Members would receive a further review of the situation and update at the first meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board in 2009.

(Project Director)

The Board considered a report that informed them of the successful application made on behalf of re3 by Wokingham Borough Council to BREW for a grant of £40k to develop a Business Waste Action Plan to complement the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy approved by the Board.

The Project Manager reported that a number of impressive partners had been brought on board and five good tenders had been received. Eventually Scott Wilson had been chosen to take this work forward.

The Chairman thanked all officers that had been involved in this work.

RESOLVED that

i)                    the Board noted the successful application and the resulting work to be carried out under the grant as laid out in the report attached to the agenda.

ii)                   the Board noted the progress of the project.

The Chairman asked that the dates of all future meetings of the Board be checked to ensure that there are no further clashes for Members.