Agenda item

Agenda item

Businesses and Management of Waste

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

 

This report provides Members with further information about the work being undertaken to encourage and support businesses to effectively manage their waste.

 

Minutes:

The Group considered the report of the Strategic Lead, Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Services that provided Members with further information about the work being undertaken to encourage and support businesses to effectively manage their waste.

 

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

 

·         Providing information on the teams which worked collaboratively to deliver the services to fulfil the Council’s statutory duties in respect of ensuring businesses complied with the requirements set out in the Environment Protection Act (1990), to reduce escape of litter and ensure that waste was disposed of correctly;

·         Information on the City Council’s partnership with Keep Britain Tidy with the aim of becoming the first ‘Tidy City’ in the UK by the end of 2020;

·         Noting that many businesses were actively involved with Keep Manchester Tidy as part of their corporate social responsibility; and

·         Providing information and case studies on initiatives. 

 

The Group viewed a video presentation that had been produced to highlight the recent clean-up of the Shudehill area that had been delivered in partnership with a range of local business partners and stakeholders.

 

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

 

·         How could the benefits realised in the city centre be replicated in district centres;

·         What was being done in areas of the city centre where there was no common interest to address issues of waste and physical improvements;

·         What was being done to engage with larger, national businesses;

·         What was being done to address commercial waste that was not associated with ‘shop front’ businesses, such as builders waste and private landlords; and

·         Noting the success of the Cheetham Hill Action Day that had been delivered with a range of partners, commenting that this should be replicated to allow discussions and engagement with residents and businesses across a range of subjects.

 

Alex King referred to the Clean Your Door Step Guide that was currently being developed by City Co as an online resource to provide local businesses with practical advice and guidance on what they could and could not do to improve the local physical environment, such as advice on organising community days and clean up events.

 

The Project Manager, Keep Manchester Tidy informed the Group that positive relationships had been established with national companies at a local level, noting the positive contribution Tesco had played in the Cheetham Hill area with clean up events and that Selfridges had delivered litter picks in the Strangeways area. She stated that national businesses had also provided ‘in kind’ support to events such as providing refreshments to volunteers and access to toilet facilities. She stated that national businesses also used such events as an opportunity to demonstrate and discharge their commitments to social responsibility. She added that local positive relationships had been established with McDonalds, commenting that work was being developed to promote the littering campaign targeted at vehicle litter ‘Don’t Be A Tosser’ at drive throughs.

 

Alex King added national companies like to demonstrate their green credentials to consumers, commenting that this was an increasingly persuasive argument to have with businesses when engaging with them.    

 

Alex King responded to the comments made regarding those areas of the city centre where there was no common interest to address issues of waste and physical improvements by referring to the Commercial Waste Provider Consolidation Pilot, commenting that this would inform the approach taken to those areas.

 

The Compliance Team Manager made reference to the positive work and outcomes of the projects delivered in the city centre using the Our Manchester approach, notably the efforts taken in the China Town area that had brought businesses and community groups together to undertake regular clean ups and resolve issues relating to the physical environment, such as waste oil management. She described that the benefits of this were that positive relationships and dialogue had been established across a range of stakeholders in the local area and this had witnessed increased numbers of people attending clean ups and other events. A Member who represented a ward within the city centre acknowledged the positive work the Council Officers had on the area, commenting that they were visible in the area and engaged positively with both businesses and residents in the area.    

 

The Compliance Team Manager stated that the positive outcomes in the city centre had been achieved through an integrated management approach that involved a range of stakeholders; working together to identify and prioritise issues; building relationships and trust to deliver positive outcomes. She stated that this approach could be replicated in other areas of the city to devise local solutions to specific issues identified. She further commented that by adopting an integrated approach a range of partners, such as Police Community Support Officers and NCP staff were proactively reporting incidents of waste or flytipping.

 

The Project Manager Keep Manchester Tidy informed the Group that the partnership was working in district centres to engage with local businesses, community groups and schools with the ambition to encourage them to deliver clean ups and physical improvements and for them to then take ownership of these initiatives. 

 

A Member commented that good practice and the lessons learnt from delivering local schemes should be shared with all Members so that they could think about how this approach could be utilised in their respective wards to engage with the local community and stakeholders to deliver and maintain physical improvements to the local environment.

 

In response to a question from the Chair regarding the cost of the compactor bins that were referred to within the report, adding that he thought that these were a good idea, the Executive Member for Neighbourhoods advised that the cost was to the contractor, adding that businesses accessed the unit via a unique PIN code and business were charged by the tonnage. Alex King stated that other businesses in other areas of the city had recognised the benefits of this system and had expressed an interest in having one of these units installed. 

 

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods stated that businesses, including those involved in the night time economy needed to take responsibility for the management of the waste that they generated through their activities. He stated that he congratulated all of the staff, across all partners and businesses for contributing to the improvements described, adding that this needed to be replicated across district centres. He commented that it was recognised that a ‘one size fits all’ approach was not appropriate and local intelligence and knowledge would inform a local strategy, and he encouraged Members to use ward coordination to progress this activity. He added that he acknowledged the comments regarding the Action Days and would give consideration to that.

 

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods further commented that in regard to incidents of illegally dumped waste, such as that from private landlords, these would be investigated and where possible progressed to prosecution, adding that he would encourage residents and local Members to report all incidents of flytipping. The Compliance Team Manager stated that whilst reporting would allow for investigations and formal enforcement to be progressed, it also provided an opportunity for positive conversations and engagement with businesses to be developed with a view to addressing issues and seeking solutions, and provided an example of where this had been achieved.

 

Decision

 

To note the report.

 

Supporting documents: