TO: JOINT WASTE DISPOSAL BOARD
7th September 2021
PROGRESS
REPORT
Report of the re3
Project Director
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
The purpose of this report is to brief the re3 Joint Waste Disposal
Board on progress in the delivery of the re3 Joint Waste PFI
Contract.
2
RECOMMENDATION
2.1 That Members note the
contents of this report.
2.2 That Members request an
update on the rigid plastics recycling trial, as described at 5.18,
to be presented at the next meeting.
3 ALTERNATIVE
OPTIONS CONSIDERED
3.1 None for this report.
4 REASONS FOR
RECOMMENDATION
4.1
The purpose of this report is to brief Members in relation to
progress in delivery of the re3 Joint Waste PFI Contract.
5
PROGRESS IN RELATION TO WASTE MANAGEMENT
re3 and Council
Performance Statistics
5.1
Members will be aware that all three councils have now commenced a
food waste collection. Food waste collections were rolled out to
all houses in Reading Borough Council in February 2021 and the
existing complement of, principally 240 litre, residual waste bins
were replaced with smaller ones. In March 2021, Bracknell Forest
commenced food waste collections across the borough and changed the
collection frequency for residual waste from fortnightly to
three-weekly. The reduction in residual waste capacity, alongside
the new collections have had a positive impact in the recycling
rate. In Wokingham Borough Council, new recycling bags were
introduced at the start of 2021, and have also led to increased
recycling rates.
5.2
The provisional recycling rates for April to July are presented
below, with a comparison from 2020/21 shown in Appendix 1.
April – July 2021
BFC – 58.3%
RBC – 52.9%
WBC – 56.7%
5.3
A breakdown of the April recycling rate has been presented in
Appendix 2. The growth in food waste, and its positive impact on
recycling remains apparent. However an increase in garden waste has
also had a small impact on the increase.
5.4
Bracknell Forest and Reading have seen increases in their kerbside
recycling tonnages following on from the recent changes. Decreases
in residual waste capacity had the potential to lead to increases
in MDR contamination, and Appendix 1 shows a slight decrease in the
levels of target materials in Bracknell Forest. The same decrease
has not been seen in Reading and Officers will continue to monitor
this.
5.5
In Wokingham, the level of contamination remains below the level
seen in 2020/21 as a result of the new recycling bags, which
prevent paper and card from becoming saturated with rain water.
Since the middle of March there has only been one date on which
there were rejections of Wokingham MDR.
5.6
Officers will continue to provide regular updates on the recycling
rate (which incorporates both the waste collected by the councils
and that delivered to the two recycling centres).
5.7
The recycling rates for the re3 recycling centres are 67.84% for
Longshot Lane and 72.10% at Smallmead. They are shown in Appendix
1, alongside a comparison from last year.
re3Grow
5.8
Following a successful sale of re3grow compost in 2020/2021, the
re3 Project Team is planning to increase the order to 10,000 bags
of 40L compost for the next year. The compost is set to arrive
early Spring 2021.
5.9
As requested during the last JWDB meeting, the Marketing and
Communication Officer will strengthen messages about the composting
process, focusing on the peat-free quality of re3grow compost.
Communications will further explain, to residents, the cost
structure, showcasing that the price per bag has been calculated to
cover the costs of producing and supplying the compost only.
Rigid
Plastics Recycling Trial
5.10
At the Joint Waste Disposal Board Meeting in June 2021, Officers
reported that a rigid plastics recycling trial would commence at
both Recycling Centres in early July. The purpose of the trial was
to enable the costs and benefits of the service to be assessed.
5.11
Although the trial is still ongoing, Officers can report that 33
tonnes of rigid plastics was sent for recycling in the first six
weeks. There has also been positive feedback from the offtaker
about low levels of contamination.
5.12
Communications activities, related to the rigid plastic trial,
included issuing a local press release, securing an interview on
BBC Radio Berkshire and publicising a range of promotional posts on
the re3 and the council social media channels. In addition, the
information about the trial was included in the re3 newsletter as
well as separate newsletters sent out by the council’s comms
teams.
5.13
The database behind our re3cyclopedia app has been updated with
advice relating specifically to the rigid plastic items we can
collect. This allows residents to receive specific and correct
advice, when searching for these items via the re3 website search
and through the app.
5.14
To improve visibility of the new service, both sites have been
equipped with relevant signage. It includes generic signs to help
locate the correct recycling bays as well as supportive signage
with images of accepted and forbidden items.
5.15
During the meeting in June, Members requested that a video of the
recycling process be made available to residents. A link to the
offtaker’s video has been posted on the re3 website and
officers are currently considering options for an re3 version. This
could show the full journey of the items deposited at the recycling
centres.
5.16
Members also requested that the Partnership explore the purchase of
products that could be used to purposefully demonstrate the
circularity of the recycling process. Officers have liaised with
the hard plastics reprocessor and confirmed that it will, through
segregation of the re3 waste, be possible to obtain items that have
been made, in part, from waste collected at the re3 recycling
centres. At the time of writing the report, Officers are awaiting
further details of these items, and hope to be able to provide this
during the meeting on the 7th of September.
5.17
The costs of recycling the rigid plastics are presented in Appendix
Three. Members will note that the cost per tonne currently stands
at £168. This compares to £147 per tonne to send the
same waste to landfill.
5.18
Officers are liaising with the Contractor to optimise the haulage
of the material and will present the conclusions of the trial
during the next meeting in December.
Communications
5.19
At the June 2021 re3 Board meeting, officers reported on the
development of an online calculator for re3 residents.
5.20
The calculator illustrates the importance of collective and
consistent action in helping to achieve necessary climate change
adaptations. Small individual actions, if replicated across our
three Boroughs consistently, can add-up to significant
improvements.
5.21
The Calculator is now being advertised on the social media and
newsletters and we would encourage Members and officers to share
the link whenever appropriate.
5.22
re3 Officers and Contractor are preparing for the installation of
England’s first retrofittable AI-powered robotic waste
picking system, at our Material Recycling Facility in Reading.
5.23
The recyclate-picking robot, known as Recycleye Robotics is able to
perform the physical tasks of identifying, picking and placing
materials at a rate of 55 successful picks per minute. The
intelligent picking system is powered by Recycleye Vision, an AI
computer vision system, which detects all individual items on waste
streams by material and object.
5.24
The robot is expected to be installed during September 2021 and is
intended to improve the efficiency and operations of our sorting
processes. A further briefing on its operational benefits will be
provided as soon as the testing period is complete.
5.25
This achievement is possible thanks to our successful partnership
with the Contractor, FCC Environment, and the Contractor’s
foresight in working with the intelligent waste management
start-up, Recycleye.
5.26
The re3 Marketing and Communications Officer is working closely
with the Contractor’s Comms team to coordinate public
relations activities. These will include: issuing press releases,
photo-calls, seeking TV and national coverage and providing
opportunities to showcase the robot to journalists and public.
5.27
At the end of September are two national weeks of action, Recycle
Week, Great Big Green Week, and more locally the wider Reading
Climate Change Festival. As ever, re3 will be engaging in each
event, providing opportunities for residents to learn about the
councils and their partnership.
5.28
Following 2020, when tours to the re3 site could not be arranged
due to social distancing, officers are hopeful that we will be able
to welcome residents on tours once again. The tours of re3 have
previously been most popular with residents who are keen to know
what happens to their waste and recycling.
5.29
During the Recycle Week, officers will also schedule an online
webinar directed at the re3 residents. The online webinars proved
to be a successful tool to engage with a wide range of residents.
This year’s webinar will put a greater focus on the climate
change, helping residents to further learn how recycling can help
to reduce our carbon impact.
5.30
The Annual Environmental Report 2020/2021, a document summarising
activities and achievements of the Partnership has been published
on the re3 website. The report has been circulated with the
Officers and press release has been issued to the local and trade
media.
Bike
Reuse
5.31
Over the last few years, officers have been able to assist with a
number of initiatives which have sought to make use of bicycles,
delivered to the Recycling Centres when no longer of use to
residents.
5.32
Primarily the bikes are provided to the Sue Ryder charity as well
as Precycle on a regular basis.
5.33
In addition to the above collaborations and to
give a new lease of life to bikes that have been left at its
recycling centres by residents, re3 has made it possible for
a local organisations to benefit from the bikes.
5.34
So far, these initiatives included a My Journey Wokingham, the
Wokingham Borough Council’s project that actively promote
walking and cycling whilst working closely with local schools,
communities and workplaces as well as Foundry College, Wokingham
that has requested bikes for their outreach programme that includes
a bike mechanics qualification directed at the vulnerable
students.
6 ADVICE
RECEIVED FROM ADMINISTERING AUTHORITY
Head of Legal Services
6.1 None for this report.
Corporate Finance Business Partner
6.2
None for this report.
Equalities Impact Assessment
6.3 None.
Strategic Risk Management Issues
6.4 None
Climate Impact Assessment
6.5 Each of the re3 Councils has made
commitments relating to climate change, and the UK Government
declared a Climate Change emergency in 2019. As a result,
a high-level assessment has been
undertaken on the impact of recycling rigid plastics on carbon
emissions.
·
Energy Use - Plastics are made from oil, which is a fossil fuel.
Recycling often takes a lot less energy than extracting raw
materials.
·
Waste Generation – No known impacts
·
Transport – Greater levels of transport are involved in
recycling hard plastics than in landfilling them. However, the full
life cycle of the products may also be relevant. Oil production in
other countries, particularly the United States is far greater than
in the UK. If recycled plastics can be used locally, this may
result in less transport overall.
6.6 It has also been
assessed whether the decision will improve resilience to climate
change impacts.
·
Heatwaves – No known
impacts
·
Drought – No known
impacts
·
Flooding – No known
impacts
·
High Winds/Storms – No known
impacts
·
Disruption to Supply Chains – No
known impacts
6.7 Whilst it hasn’t been possible to
quantify the benefits, the overall rating assigned to this trial is
a ‘low positive’ one.
6.8 To help maximise the positive impacts, Officers are
working with the Contractor to optimise the quantity of waste
transported per load.
7
CONSULTATION
7.1
Principal Groups
Consulted
Not applicable.
7.2 Method of
Consultation
Not
applicable.
7.3 Representations
Received
Not applicable.
Background Papers
October 2020 re3
Board
Contacts for further
information
Sarah Innes, re3 Monitoring and Performance
Officer
0118 937 3459
sarah.innes@reading.gov.uk
Monika Bulmer, re3 Marketing and Communications
Officer
0118 937
3460
monika.bulmer@reading.gov.uk
Oliver Burt, re3
Project Director
0118
937 3990
oliver.burt@reading.gov.uk
