Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

This report provides an update on information on the campaign and engagement programme with residents on the issue of household waste and recycling.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) that provided an update on the approach to communications and engagement with Manchester residents to reduce their own carbon impact by reducing the waste they produced, reusing what they could and disposing of or recycling items using legitimate routes.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background;

·         Providing an update on the Resource & Waste Strategy (2018);

·         Information on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), noting that EPR was intended to transfer the full cost of dealing with packaging waste from Local Authorities to producers;

·         Data in relation to recycling performance;

·         Information on relation to communications and campaigns;

·         Information on the approach to engagement; noting that it was important to note that communication and campaigns were not the same as engagement; and

·         Describing the priorities for 2023/24.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Welcoming the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), stating that this should reduce the incidents of litter and increase recycling rates;

·         Expressing disappointment that glass bottles would not be collected by DRS in England;

·         Expressing concern that incidents of flytipping were increasing and consideration needed to be given to relaxing the restrictions at Household Waste and Recycling Centres to enable small business to dispose of their waste;

·         Consideration needed to be given to introducing additional collections, particularly for cardboard during the Christmas period;

·         Consideration needed to be given to the format of the annual recycling calendars, especially the font size used; and

·         The number of free Bulky Waste collection offer needed to be increased per household.

The Project Manager, Service Improvement stated that the Deposit Return Scheme was welcomed and commented that this could potentially realise savings to the Authority. He stated that the frustrations regarding glass not being included were shared. He commented that the issue of flytipping was understood and campaigns and work, both at a local level and GM level were underway to address this.  In regard to Christmas collections, he commented that planning had already commenced for this activity across all waste streams.

The Head of Strategic Communications referred to the comments raised regarding the calendars by stating that this document contained a lot of information and that the font size would be reviewed following the feedback from Members. He stated that residents could also receive information and notification reminders via email.

The Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods stated that a detailed report on the enforcement activity to address flytipping was reported to the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee. She requested that the Scrutiny Support Officer circulate the latest report for information to members of this Committee.

The Project Manager, Service Improvement stated Household Waste and Recycling Centres were not intended for waste resulting from commercial activity. He acknowledged the issue expressed regarding the permit scheme and added that this was to be reviewed.  With regard to the Bulky Waste collection service, he added that the vast majority of these requests for service were undertaken free of charge, and the service was committed to working with residents if they were approached with a request for any additional collections. The Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods added that this service needed to be considered in the context of the wider budget and pressures on this service.

Decision

To note the report.