Report to:Cabinet Member – Communities and Environment

Date of Report:July 2014

Subject:Recycling Bring Bank Service – Plastic Bank Restructure

Report of:Street Scene DirectorWards Affected:All

Is this a Key Decision? NoIs it included in the Forward Plan? No

Exempt/ConfidentialNo

Purpose/Summary
To inform the Cabinet Member of the proposal and request put forward by Palm Recycling Ltd to restructure and reduce the number of Plastic Bring Banks across the Borough in order to optimise collections and make the service more financially viable
Recommendation(s)
  1. That Cabinet Member – Communities and Environment acknowledges the impact that the household plastic and cardboard collection service has had in relation to plastic bring banks and agrees that the proposals detailed in this report be implemented.

How does the decision contribute to the Council’s Corporate Objectives?

Corporate Objective / Positive Impact / Neutral Impact / Negative Impact
1 / Creating a Learning Community / 
2 / Jobs and Prosperity / 
3 / Environmental Sustainability / 
4 / Health and Well-Being / 
5 / Children and Young People / 
6 / Creating Safe Communities / 
7 / Creating Inclusive Communities / 
8 / Improving the Quality of Council Services and Strengthening Local Democracy / 

Reasons for the Recommendation:

The Cleansing Services Section has recently introduced enhanced recycling services across the Borough with the introduction of brown wheeled bins to collect cardboard and plastics. Since the introduction of the new kerbside collection the use of bring banks for plastics has reduced by over 60%, tonnage of other materials collected via bring banks has also been falling steadily, as such it is recommended that approval be given to implement these changes.

What will it cost and how will it be financed?

(A)Revenue Costs –

There is no revenue cost associated with these proposals.

(B)Capital Costs –

There is no capital cost associated with these proposals.

Implications:

The following implications of this proposal have been considered and where there are specific implications, these are set out below:

Legal
There are no legal implications arising from these proposals. .
Human Resources
There are no human resource implications arising from these proposals.
Equality
1.No Equality Implication
2.Equality Implications identified and mitigated
3.Equality Implication identified and risk remains

Impact on Service Delivery:

The introduction of the borough wide plastic and card recycling service, coupled with overall decline in the use of bring banks has led to significant reduction in the tonnage of materials collected from bring sites across the Borough. Palm Recycling Ltd has requested that in order for the service to remain cost effective the number of plastic banks is reduced, whilst still maintaining the service at key sites.

What consultations have taken place on the proposals and when?

None

Are there any other options available for consideration?

The cost to service plastic banks is offset by the sale of the material collected, as the amount of plastic deposited has dramatically reduced refusing the proposals will undoubtedly put Palm Recycling Ltd under financial pressure to service the plastic bring banks.

Implementation Date for the Decision

Following the expiry of the “call-in” period for the Minutes of the Cabinet/Cabinet Member Meeting

Contact Officer:Clare Bowdler

Tel:0151 288 6144

Email:

Background Papers:

There are no background papers available for inspection.

Introduction/Background

1Sefton Council appointed Palm Recycling Ltd as the successful bidder to deliver the Recycling Collection Service (including Food Waste) in August 2011, the contract expires on 31st July 2016(with an option to extend for a further 2 years beyond this date). The Invitation To Tender included the bring bank service as a provisional item, to be priced separately. Palm Recyclings’ bid for this service allowed for a small income payment to the council from the sale of materials collected. The Method Statement included the following clause:

Palm Recycling would review the plastic banks if the Council decided to implement plastic collections within the new kerbside contract as an option. The current provision of the plastic 3.2 banks and the superbanks would be reduced. This would be due to the kerbside collection of plastic bottles being in place and demand at bank sites reducing. All decisions would be reviewed with the Council to ensure that both parties agree with the proposal.

2The amount of plastic bottles collected in the banks has reduced by over 60% since the introduction of brown wheeled bins across the borough the chart below illustrates the drop in tonnage.

3There are currently 17 Bring Sites managed by Palm Recycling that have plastic banks on site, 5 of these sites have large Superbanks (SB), the other 12 have 3.2 Igloo Style banks. The sites highlighted in blue below represent the poorest performing sites collecting 100kg of plastic bottles per month. It is recommended that these banks are removed completely.

PLASTIC
SITE / STREET / WARD / 3.2 / SB
ASDA / ORMSKIRK ROAD / MOLYNEUX / 1
MORRISONS / STAFFORD MORETON WAY / PARK / 2
COMMUNITY CENTRE / GREEN LANE / PARK / 1
TESCO / 188 SOUTHPORT RD / KEW / 1
ASDA / DERBY ROAD / DUKES / 1
MORRISONS / LORD STREET / DUKES / 1
RAILWAY PUB C/P KWIKSAVE / LIVERPOOL ROAD / AINSDALE / 2
HIGHTOWN RAILWAY / HIGHTOWN / HIGHTOWN / 1
INCE BLUNDELL VILLAGE / LADY GREEN LANE / RAVENMEOLS / 1
MOOR LANE CAR PARK / MOOR LANE / MANOR / 3
CROSBY CIVIC C/P / HAIGH ROAD / CHURCH / 2
WAITROSE / THREE TUNNS LANE / RAVENMEOLS / 3
LITHERLAND SP0RTS PARK / BOUNDARY ROAD / FORD / 1
AINSDALE BEACH / SHORE ROAD / AINSDALE / 1
WATERLOO RUGBY CLUB / ST ANTHONYS ROAD / BLUNDELLSANDS / 1
ASDA / STRAND ROAD / BOOTLE / 1
CROSBY LAKESIDE / off CAMBRIDGE ROAD / CHURCH / 1

4In order to simplify the collections Palm also propose to remove superbanks at the retained sites and to replace these with 3.2 Igloos. This will aid the collection process and quality issues (contamination through the superbanks is particularly high)the picture below illustrates the difference in these banks.

1.CONCLUSION

The dramatic drop in tonnage collected via the plastic bring banks clearly shows residents have embraced the new brown bin kerbside collection for this material. Removal of the poorest performing banks whilst still providing the facility at key sites willenable a sustainable service to continue to be provided at these locations.

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