Executive Response Recycling from Council Premises and Operations

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Executive Response

Review of Recycling and the Management of Waste from Council Premises and Operations

Date : March 2008

Cabinet Deputy: Councillor C. Piddington

Recommendations	Accepted / Rejected	Executive Response	Officer Responsible	Action By (Date)
1. That reducing and reusing material are encouraged as much, or more than, recycling.	Accepted	The Waste Hierarchy places waste minimisation and reuse before recycling. The service will look at ways of communicating this to staff including use of intranet, Wire, and induction information.	Robin Monk Kyle Barnes	October 2008
2. That the Council investigates external markets for recyclables and proposes new innovative and marketable ways in which unwanted or waste items can be used to generate money for the Council.	Accepted	The council already looks at markets for it’s recyclable waste. Through the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal contract a number of new facilities will enable further work to be undertaken e.g with food waste, palpable materials including cardboard and co-mingled dry recyclates.	Robin Monk Nicola Martin	October 2009
3. That consideration be given to charging Service Unit Managers for the amount of waste sent to landfill as an incentive for reducing the amount of waste reduced.	Rejected	Whilst the principal is sound the administration and monitoring of this is unsustainable and administration costs would exceed any potential financial savings. Other means of achieving waste diversion will be considered.
4. That the duties and responsibilities of Environmental Services and Facilities Management in relation to recycling and waste minimisation in the Council’s premises and operations be clearly defined.	Accepted	Environmental Services and Facilities Management currently work closely together in examining ways of reducing waste. This close working relationship will continue such that clear definitions of responsibilities will be known through that working partnership. A policy procedural note will be produced and circulated following joint discussions between the SUM for Recycling and the SUM for Facilities Management. This will clearly define the duties, responsibilities, and operations of both service units in relation to the joint approach to recycling and waste minimisation in the Council’s premises.	Robin Monk John Chesterton	May 2008
5. That the Council pursues opportunities to introduce composting as part of the waste minimisation scheme.	Accepted	Much work is done in the District assemblies to use wood bark etc in their operations. In 2009 the Waste Disposal PFI contract will provide IVC (In Vessel Composter) facilities such that food and green waste can be processed together.	Robin Monk Nicola Martin	October 2009
6. That if the opportunity arises, consideration be given to additional budget provision to fund existing and extended recycling activities in Council premises.	Accepted	A number of grants have been made available for years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 such that recycling containers can be purchased. Additional revenue allocation has been made available in 2008/09.	Robin Monk	April 2008
7. That the Council policy for the disposal of unwanted office furniture be enforced.	Accepted	The Council policy for unwanted office furniture is being followed by FM. Service areas wanting to dispose of unwanted office furniture are reminded of the requirement to advertise the items on the bulletin board for 2 weeks before disposing via the loading bay in TAC. FM are monitoring the items of unwanted furniture sent for disposal, and since July 2007 a total of 238 items were disposed of. Of this total 66 (28%) were found a new home, 50 (21%) were of average or good condition but were scrapped due to lack of storage space, 122 (51%) were scrapped due to poor condition. All items scrapped were taken via the compactor or Tamesider. A list of local charitable concerns/Councillors projects/other departments is maintained by FM and contact is made in the first instance when items arrive for disposal to seek alternative uses. Items are only scrapped if they are in a poor or unusable condition, or if space constraints require it. Enquiries have been made to consider recycling waste furniture but so far these have proved expensive and uneconomical.	John Chesterton Roy Holland	Work ongoing
8. That consideration be given to the establishment of a partnership with a local charity to which any unwanted furniture can be taken, in order to sell and raise vital funding.	Accepted	The council has already engaged with a local charitable organisation and offered facilities to recycle bulky waste. This recommendation will only be achieved if a local organisation is equally engaged.	Robin Monk Nicola Martin	April 2009
9. That Service Unit Managers be charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all staff understand their responsibilities regarding waste minimisation, and actively encourage their staff to recycle their waste where possible. This would be helped by improved and positive signage at recycling points and the production of a staff handbook on recycling.	Accepted	There is a need to improve communications through a number of ways including intranet, Wire and induction booklets.	Robin Monk Kyle Barnes	September 2008
10. That Service Unit Managers receive additional support in helping to educate staff about the scheme.	Accepted	The Recycling unit will provide help and support wherever possible. This might be limited to provision of information but might include ‘drop in’ clinics etc.	Robin Monk Nicola Martin Kyle Barnes	October 2008
11. That the ideas and suggestions of staff be encouraged and shared across the authority, perhaps with a regular feature in the Wire.	Accepted	The Wire will be used on a regular basis for publicising this work.	Kyle Barnes	April 2008
12. That the efforts of staff be acknowledged.	Accepted	This will from part of Wire and Intranet communications.	Nicola Martin Kyle Barnes	April 2008
13. That the waste minimisation scheme responds to the feedback from staff and considers the ideas and suggestions made by staff.	Accepted	Where suggestions and feedback can be accommodated and deliver real financial and environmental benefits then these will be considered and acted upon.	Robin Monk Nicola Martin	April 2008 ongoing
14. That facilities to outstations be extended and improved.	Accepted	There is already a network of recycling collections that take place at outstations. Subject to operational and financial restraints these facilities will be extended. New facilities from the Waste Disposal contract will allow us to remodel our collections such that collections can take place at all outstations.	Robin Monk Nicola Martin Kyle Barnes John Chesterton Roy Holland Eve Gray	October 2009
15. That communication about waste minimisation with outstations be improved.	Accepted	This will form part of the work form recommendations 11,12,13, and 14 above.	Robin Monk	April 2008 ongoing
16. That the Council supports staff initiatives which aim to reduce waste as far as possible by providing facilities or adapting working practices when opportunities arise.	Accepted	See point 13 above.
17. That the production of the Wire be mainly in electronic format, except for those employees who do not have access to a computer.	Review in the next 12 months	The Wire is seen as a key means of disseminating corporate messages and is the most widely read and effective means of achieving this. Accessibility is also a major concern, particularly in some of the council out stations and where front line staff do not have computer access. The recent introduction of the Live Wire has been well received and we expect that over time, we may be able to cut the distribution of paper copies. However, as this is still in its infancy, there is still limited uptake and engagement. Once this has more fully bedded in and wider computer access is achieved we may be able to review this. A further review in 12 months time may be appropriate.
18. That Service Units are given the option to continue to receive one copy of the Wire per person or to request a reduced number in response to the wishes of the Unit.	Review in the next 12 months	The Wire is distributed with payslips and this is the most cost effective and efficient way of circulating it. We regularly review our distribution. We have already made some efficiencies and cut wastage by streamlining the distribution and updating our mailing lists, but in order to ensure that as many people a possible read it, we do need to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of seeing a copy. By reducing it to the Service Unit level, we cannot guarantee that the newsletter will be fully circulated or be widely read. Employee surveys demonstrate that the Wire is the most effective and most widely read corporate publication. How well informed staff feel is an important 'Corporate Performance Assessment' and 'Investors in People' measure.
19. That the production of internal questionnaires be in electronic format only, except for those employees who do not have access to a computer.		Awaiting response.
20. That consideration be given to a house style, for all council documents, which takes account of paper saving initiatives, eg. smaller margins, double sided default printing.	TBC – some of this is currently being picked up through ongoing work.	Work on this is underway. Whilst a review of house style may be useful, some of the savings that this would evoke would be limited. A more detailed review of what is produced as a paper copy rather than an electronic copy would be useful, as would a review of who is commissioning Design and Print work in the first instance. Some guidelines around who, what, how and why you’re producing a document with details of intended/target audience, may reduce the need for producing material at source.
21. That an Environmental Purchasing Policy be introduced to include the most green alternative, biodegradable cleaning supplies and recyclable packaging, where appropriate.	Accepted	Environmental Services are developing a draft Environmental Strategy in accordance with the Corporate Plan. Sustainable Procurement is being included in this. Mark Stein in Economic Services is preparing an initial paper on sustainable procurement for discussion at Procurement Steering Group	Alan Stopher Mark Stein	May 2008
22. That the staff restaurant justify the use of disposable containers instead of traditional tableware, considering a whole cost approach.	Accepted	Disposable containers have been used since the change of operation from a restaurant service to a take away service. This change was introduced following a review of the trading position, which was highlighted by the Chief Executive and Borough Treasurer, in the pursuit of corporate efficiencies. The outcomes of this change have proved effective in changing the former budget deficit position. Work is in progress to replace the current packaging and utensils with reusable and recyclable alternatives.	Dave Rainford	October 2008
23. That the introduction of multi-compartment containers for collecting rubbish in town centres be considered.	Accepted	The Head of Environmental Operations to liaise with AED District Assemblies to establish and trial town centre recycling.	Robin Monk AED	October 2008
24. That if the Engineering Service skip hire facility is no longer regarded as viable for the whole Council, then it should be terminated as soon as possible.	Accepted	An interim report was prepared in 2006 which identified the need to withdraw the skip service facility for external customers. Currently, the reduced skip service now only exists for internal clients (e.g. DA’s, Markets, Cemeteries etc). A further report is now being prepared by the Deputy Assistant Executive Director (Engineering and Environmental Services), for all waste management issues.	Robin Monk Paul Jennings Nigel Brooks	October 2008

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