COUNCIL ASSESSMENT - Focus on waste management

As a little background information: According to DEFRA, since New Labour took power, total municipal waste in the UK has gone up by 21% between 1997 and 2006 - that's a 10 % increase per head. Although the rate of recycling has increased – from 6 to 23%, because total volumes of municipal waste have kept rising the actual volume of waste that is not recycled has increased since 1997.

Within the CA report waste management was identified as one of the six 'service improvement priorities singled out by RBC, which falls under the SCS ambition of creating a 'clearner and greener environment' - The report highlights:

"...above average performance on costs of waste collection, being enhanced by the joint waste recycling centre. On the other hand graffiti remains a problem."

First hand I can see that the graffiti issue has been relentless. But in Redlands at least constant reporting by Lib Dem councillors and residents has seemed to keep the problem under control. You need only look at Park or Church ward to see how much worse it could be.

Item 65 in the report says:

"The approach to improving the environment in a sustainable way is adequate"

This means that this is being achieved in at only minimum requirements, so has a long way to go. The report goes on to say:

"Performance on environmental issues is mixed with recycling and composting being amongst the best 25 per cent nationally but the cost of waste disposal being in the second worst 25 per cent."

Its great to hear that we are one of the country's better recyclers, but there is always room for improvement. This high cost comes from the initial set-up costs for the waste PFI called re3, which is a joint venture with Wokingham and Bracknell Forest councils. As we have said in the past, this PFI isn't very adaptable to future needs. So increasing our levels of recycling, but taking more of what currently goes to landfill, becomes very difficult. It should be noted that in the press RBC officers stated:

“Any materials sent to landfill or incineration in Reading are sent via that route precisely because they were not recyclable. No recyclable materials collected in Reading are incinerated.”

This isn't strictly true, these materials are not recyclable under RBC current re3 contract. I can tell you, speaking as a Chemist, that most of the plastics you will have to throw into your grey bin are - in fact - recyclable. Also, a large proportion of the material sent to landfill is glass or food waste, materials we would like to be considered for recycling. This would not only help our environment, but also reduce council costs in the form of landfill taxes.

The report also states:

"For the re3 waste management project, joint monitoring arrangements have been established by the three councils involved; however, capacity is limited for monitoring the contractor's performance."

We have had a review of this PFI put onto the Environment Scrutiny panel agenda, so as the performance of this important venture can be put to task.

So over all RBC are doing ok in this area, but this is not the time to become complacent and we will continue to work on achieving improvements in this area. This is, in fact, one of the primary reasons I became a councillor.