Report of the Strategic Lead (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing)

This report provides the Task and Finish Group with an update on national and local campaigns, and the lessons learnt to address the issue of waste and influence behaviour change.

The Group considered the report of the Strategic Lead (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing) that provided Members with an update on national and local campaigns and the lessons learnt to address the issue of waste and influence behaviour change.

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         Providing a background to the Keep Manchester Tidy campaign;

·         A detailed schedule for these campaign activities in Manchester planned for 2018/19;

·         Information on the national campaigns launched by Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) during 2018/19;

·         A description of the KBT work, noting the strong focus on volunteering through their Litter Hero and Litter Ambassador schemes;

·         An update on the Keep Manchester Tidy local campaigns, including the targeted campaigns directed at flytipping, discarded cigarettes, left behind litter, littering from vehicles and dog fouling;

·         Information on the use of social media to promote campaigns and advertise community clean ups across Greater Manchester;

·         Information on the framework to measure and benchmark this activity; and

·         Lessons learnt and next steps.

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

·         Number plate recognition technology should be used to identify commercial vehicles that attended waste and recycling centres but did not enter and then flytipped;

·         A cost benefit analysis should be undertaken of the cost incurred to remove commercial waste that was flytipped compared to reducing the fee imposed to dispose of commercial waste at waste and recycling centres;

·         What work was being done to address the issue of irresponsible Private Landlords dumping rubbish, particularly in student areas at the end of tenancies, noting that this irresponsible behaviour often attracted others to do the same;

·         The need to champion good Private Landlords and work with professional organisations, such as the Residential Landlords Association and Association of Residential Letting Agents to raise awareness of this issue with their members;

·         How were the impact and outcomes of the various campaigns to be measured;

·         Bulky waste collections and how these could be managed to maximise the benefits to residents and reduce any additional charges to residents;

·         The need to engage with a range of partners in this activity, including the Canal and Rivers Trust and major land owners in the city;

·         Previous examples and lessons learnt of resident and community engagement, such as Respect Action Days that had been delivered with a range of partners, including the police and housing providers should be utilised to promote this activity;

·         Noting the effective campaigns designed by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) to improve recycling rates, were other targeted campaigns coordinated to utilise the lessons learnt;

·         Recognising that Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) needed to be supported to remove their bulky waste;     

·         What was being done with larger, national business to improve litter and waste;

·         Recognising the invaluable contribution that volunteers and litter ambassadors made to their local community and to inspire other residents;

·         Consideration should be given to introducing the Adopt Your Street campaign, that encouraged local people to volunteer to care for their communities and local environment through collecting litter from their local streets and areas; and

·         Noting that smokers often complained that there was little provision to dispose of a cigarette, cigarette manufacturers should be encouraged to provide smokers with a small receptacle so they can responsibly dispose of their cigarette butt rather than dropping it.

In response to the Group’s discussions the Strategic Lead, (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services) informed Members that analysis undertaken by the Performance Research and Innovation (PRI) Team had demonstrated that the increase in the incidents of flytipping was associated with businesses and commercial waste carriers, noting that this was a national trend. She commented that this intelligence would inform the negotiations relating to the Greater Manchester (GM) wide contract procurement exercise of household waste and recycling centres. She said the suggestion of introducing number plate recognition systems and information being provided at those sites in relation to enforcement would be considered. She stated that with the support of WRAP and KBT a working group would be established post March to consider these options. She further commented that residents needed to be made aware of their responsibility and duty of care when engaging the services of commercial waste carriers.  

In regard to the comments made about the bulky waste collection service the Strategic Lead, (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services) stated that a way of maximising the benefits of this would be for residents to ‘pool’ their allowance, noting that apartment blocks have one free collection allocated per apartment. She further stated that if residents had organised a litter pick the resulting collected litter would be removed and would not count as bulky waste collection.

The Strategic Lead, (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services) then addressed the issue of Private Landlords. She said that a guide for landlords, similar to that used in London would be produced in partnership with WRAP in the next twelve months. This guide could then be issued to landlords that clearly explained their responsibilities in regard to waste management relating to their property. She further explained that this could also be included as a condition of the Houses of Multiple Occupation licensing regime that had recently been extended, noting that officers were currently identifying all those landlords concerned and this would provide an opportunity to engage with and establish a dialogue with landlords.

The Strategic Lead, (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services), noting the positive comment from a Member said that WRAP used evidence based methods for developing and delivering campaigns in relation to recycling. She said that she would explore options for developing these to include other campaigns.

The Strategic Lead, (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services) further advised that work was being developed with City Co to address the issue of commercial waste in the city centre. She described that meetings had been held to establish a dialogue and to understand the challenges experienced by SMEs in relation to waste with the view of agreeing a set of principles and best practice. She said that whilst this activity was currently focused on the city centre area the intention was to extend this to other areas of the city. She said that Members would be kept informed of this activity. She also advised the Members that a Litter Task Force had been established that included a range of key partners, land owners and statutory agencies including the Canal and Rivers Trust that sought to coordinate resources and influence change.

The Strategic Lead, (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services) commented that some larger business and supermarkets did engage with and support local community campaigns, noting the KBT had established good relationships with national chains and that many national companies were actively engaged with the KBT GB Spring Clean programme scheduled for March 2019. The KBT Project Manager commented that Council staff would also be actively involved with the GB Spring Clean, with staff utilising the volunteer days that they were allocated to deliver a minimum of one campaign per ward. She said this activity would be promoted and supported through the press and social media.

The Strategic Lead, (Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services) noted many other positive campaigns that had been delivered, such as the Let’s Talk Rubbish campaign in Didsbury and the lessons from this. She said that this and other campaigns could be used to showcase good practice and inspire other residents. She stated that support for local campaigns could be obtained from companies wishing to discharge their social value / social responsibility functions and the local Neighbourhood Teams would be able to coordinate this. The KBT Project Manager provided an example of when a resident group had approached a local developer to help improve a ‘grot spot’ and deliver physical improvement works, commenting that this was a good example of the Our Manchester approach.  She acknowledged the positive comments made regarding the Adopt a Street campaign that had been delivered in other areas of the country, stating that the options for adapting this would be considered following the delivery of the Active Streets campaign. She further commented that Neighbourhood Teams could provide practical support to community groups and assist them with obtaining equipment and resources to undertake litter picks. 

Noting the positive comments from Members regarding the Litter Ambassadors and the positive impact they had, the KBT Project Manager advised that a Facebook group had been established, run by volunteers to coordinate and publicised litter picks and other related activities across Greater Manchester. She said that an event would be organised following the GB Spring Clean to thank, celebrate and showcase the efforts and achievements of Litter Heroes and Litter Ambassadors.

The Keep Manchester Tidy Project Manager stated that KBT were very experienced in providing analysis to measure and report improvements delivered through campaigns. She said they achieved this by undertaking routine surveys of streets and areas to measure improvements. The Group were informed that KBT had conducted an evaluation of the #Bin the Butt Campaign in Manchester. Results had shown that 85% of the smokers surveyed would think twice before throwing their cigarette end on the floor.

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods stated that flytipping was a very significant issue that caused misery for local residents and the Council enforcement officers would pursue and prosecute perpetrators. He said that he acknowledged the comments made regarding the issue of commercial waste that had been discussed, commenting that he was lobbying for the requirement that all food outlets were required to display their food hygiene rating certificate, commenting that this was indicative of their waste management arrangements. He also said that he recognised the need to provide information and deliver awareness campaigns in a variety of appropriate ways, and in different languages to ensure all communities are engaged with.

Decision

To note the report.