Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 This report details proposed changes to the point of collection for refuse (from back door to edge of property) which will improve operational efficiency, benefit recycling rates, address health and safety concerns and ensure a consistency of approach across refuse and recycling services.

2 RECOMMENDATIONS

2.1 The point of collection for rubbish is moved to the edge of property.

2.2 That residents are made aware of the availability of the existing assisted collection service which is available for those who have difficulties in placing their rubbish at the edge of their property.

2.3 That staff work with residents in specific areas with access and storage difficulties in order to identify the most appropriate collection point (as outlined in paragraphs 3.2 and 4.9).

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 A saving in staff and operating costs of £124K in a full year is anticipated from moving the point of collection from the back door to the edge of property. This has been detailed in the draft 2006/07 Service Plan to be agreed by the Executive Member for Sustainability & the Environment.

3.2 £30K investment will be necessary in order to successfully publicise and promote the changes, to work face to face with residents to address specific concerns and to meet the cost of additional enforcement measures (see details at paragraph 4.9).

3.3 Savings achieved will help develop recycling services in order to deliver the Council's agreed Waste Strategy targets. This proposal is contained within 2006/07 draft Service Plan and will be considered as part of the Council's budget setting process.

3.4 The draft Service Plan anticipates a net saving of £50,000 (taking into account the investment identified in 3.2 above) from this change in 2006/07. The full annual saving will not be achieved in the first year due to the need to phase in these changes over the first six months of the financial year.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 In 2004 a study was commissioned to review our current methods of collecting rubbish in order to address health and safety concerns regarding existing operational practices, identify the most appropriate ways to increase participation in recycling schemes, and to maximise tonnages of waste that we recycle in the most cost effective, efficient, consistent and co-ordinated manner.

4.2 The study recommended that edge of property refuse collection be introduced to resolve a number of health and safety issues, and to increase the amount of waste recycled by introducing consistency across the refuse and recycling services in advance of new service specifications being agreed through market testing.

4.3 Through survey work previously undertaken it is thought that approximately 60% of residents already place their refuse at the edge of their property for collection.

4.4 The Health & Safety Executive inspected our refuse & recycling operations in December 2005. The inspector expressed serious concerns over our current methods of collection, specifically the black sack back door collection policy. The inspector urged the Council to consider edge of property collections as a priority in order to reduce manual handling concerns and then to implement wheeled bin collections as far as practically possible in due course. A formal written report from the inspector is awaited.

4.5 Significant health and safety concerns have been raised by staff and Trade Unions regarding back door collection. Frequently staff are required to handle bags down large driveways, narrow alleys, slippery steps down into cellars, through broken garden gates etc. Refuse is frequently poorly presented by residents who do not have to handle it themselves. There are many incidents of sharp objects & glass protruding from sacks and sacks that are of very poor quality. Where residents handle the sacks themselves the waste is generally presented in a much safer manner.

4.6 In specific locations throughout the district health and safety risks arising from collecting from the back door have resulted in an unacceptable level of risk for operatives. In these instances collections have already been introduced from the edge of property. Typically these type of properties have had narrow back lane access which have inherent dangers for reversing vehicles.

4.7 Nationally, recycling schemes have undergone significant development over the past two years as central government funding has had a positive impact. There are many authorities that are carrying out innovative approaches to waste and recycling collections and examples of best practice that Bath & North East Somerset can learn from continue to be thoroughly researched.

4.8 The Council is market testing its refuse and recycling services in 2006. A new specification will be developed for refuse and recycling services through this market test. The move from back door to edge of property is a short term solution, to ensure a consistency of approach for all of our collection services in advance of new service specifications being implemented.

4.9 In order to deliver the benefits and savings outlined above, it will be essential to publicise and promote these changes and to employ staff to work closely with residents in order to address specific concerns. In the period directly following changes to the collection arrangements, additional enforcement officer resource will also be essential in order that any failure to comply with the revised arrangements is identified and residents advised of the new collection regime costs are estimated at:- publicity material and distribution, data input related to assisted collection service £13K; Recycling Consortium costs for "door knockers" (advisers) £6K; Enforcement additional staff costs and contingencies £11K.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

B7 Incurring redundancy costs through reduction in staffing levels. It is anticipated that reductions can be managed by natural wastage through redeploying any affected staff across related services.

B7 Adverse public reaction to changes. This will be mitigated by investment in publicity, promotion, liaison and enforcement. Assisted collections will be provided where residents have difficulties in complying with the new arrangements.

B7 Injury to staff, although reduced, is still a risk due to the continuation of collection of refuse in bags. Risk is lessened because handling by staff is reduced and residents tends to present their refuse in a more acceptable state where they are required to adhere to an edge of property collection.

6 RATIONALE

6.1 Introducing edge of property rubbish collection reduces many health and safety risks and introduces a consistency of approach across our refuse and recycling collection services which should have the effect of encouraging higher levels of recycling.

6.2 A further likely benefit of this change is that, in the area of households affected, levels of litter are likely to be reduced. This is due to the likelihood that refuse presented in an unacceptable condition will be reduced whilst staff will be required to carry bags of refuse less distance.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 To remain with back door collection - the health and safety issues that this presents for operatives are no longer acceptable. This was clearly stated during a recent inspection by the Health & Safety Executive. This option would continue the inconsistency of approach between the green box service and the composting collection service which already require the containers to be placed edge of property.

7.2 To implement wheeled bin collections, edge of property to ease manual handling and cleanliness issues - this will be addressed through the development of new service specifications which will be market tested to ensure affordability and to ensure the achievement of the Council's Waste Strategy targets.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 Executive Councillor, Overview & Scrutiny Panel, Trades unions, Section 151 Finance Officer, Service staff, Other B&NES Services, Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer

8.2 Extensive consultation has been carried out during the development of the Council's Waste Strategy. This has included Workshops, Stakeholder meetings, publication of draft documents for comment and through scrutiny by the relevant O&S Panel, at which edge of property collections have been discussed at length.

8.3 The Trade Unions have responded to the draft version of this report by saying "We fully support the proposal to move from a "back door" collection to an edge of property collection. We believe that the present method directly conflicts with the Council's Duty of Care towards its employees. Moving to edge of property will greatly reduce the health and safety risks, improve efficiency and increase recycling rates".