The Chair welcomed all present.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Liz Green and Martin Whelton. Councillor Nick Draper attended as substitute for Councillor Whelton.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2018 were signed and agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.

The Contract Manager presented the report.

It was highlighted under Contract 1:

?       160,000 tonnes of waste had been delivered to Viridor in the first three quarters of this financial year, with 100,000 tonnes being taken under Contract 1. The remaining 60,000 had been sent to the Energy Recovery Facility (ERF).

?       The partnership had seen a decrease of 3.5% in residual (non-recyclable) waste in the year to date and this had equated to a saving of just over £600,000.

?       The Contract was working well and operating effectively.

Contract 2:

?       All 6 Household Re-Use and Recycling Centres (HRRCs) were exceeding the 80% satisfaction target set by the Partnership and in round 10 of the customer satisfaction surveys, 90% of visitors to the sites said they waited less than 5 minutes to enter the site.

?       There had been a recent reduction in complaints and an increase in compliments for HRRCs.

?       All HRRCs were experiencing a reduction in recycle rates and work was ongoing to understand the reasons behind this. It was noted that there were still issues with mattresses and rigid plastics due to difficulties with the recycling markets for those materials. This meant that those two materials were having a significant impact on the figures. A more detailed end of year report would be produced on recycling rates.

Contract 3 was operating well with no issues.

In regards to the Phase B (Construction of the ERF) the Contract Manager advised that this had now passed all acceptance tests and wider takeover works were expected in the late spring/early summer. It was noted that there had been no process issues.

The extended testing period had meant that SLWP had been paying a reduced gate fee over this time and this had saved the partnership £2 million. In addition to the £600,000 saving achieved through the decrease in residual waste, the partnership had achieved a saving of £7.1million in comparison to last year’s figures.

Councillor Collins asked whether recycling figures were obtained for Neighbourhood Recycle Centres (NRCs) across the Boroughs, as this would be useful to look at in relation to whether these sites could be reduced or removed. The Partnership Manager confirmed that this information was not collected as a partnership however it was best for any recycling not collected at the kerbside (from residential properties) to be taken to the main HRRC sites where there were staff available to assist residents. Councillors and officers confirmed that Sutton had removed all of their NRCs previously and that this had been a positive change. Councillors from Kingston had also been reducing the number of NRCs. All Boroughs agreed that there was an issue with fly tipping at NRCs and that a report should be brought to a future Committee meeting to discuss a collective approach to these sites in further detail.

In response to further questions, the Contract Manager advised that the £2 million saved to date was not expected to increase further as the reduced gate fee for the commissioning had now ceased.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Finance Lead presented the report, advising that the Partnership’s Budget forecast an underspend for the year of £22,400, which equated to £5,600 per Borough.

RESOLVED: That the report was noted.

The Communications Advisor presented the report which gave an overview of the activity from December 2018 to March 2019. Good progress was being made on the Destination Recycling film. This aimed to inform and reassure residents about what happened to their recycling once it was collected. The film was expected to be complete by the end of April 2019 and a targeted social media campaign would take place throughout May and June.

The Beddington Energy Recovery Facility Virtual Visitor Centre (VVC) was now online which highlighted the fifteen steps which take place after residual waste is collected and is taken to the ERF. The Communications Advisor had worked closely with Viridor to ensure that the VVC was accessible as possible. The VVC includes twice-monthly uploads of emissions monitoring data from the ERF along with guidance on how to interpret the reports.  It was noted that there was no statutory requirement to provide this information publicly and there was a large amount of variation across the country as to the levels of transparency. The VVC was still being updated and the intention was to replace the photos with videos in the near future.

All contact details were provided on the website, and the option to visit for a tour of the site was available.

The Committee reviewed the mid-March emissions monitoring report included within the agenda pack and noted that there had not been any exceedances of any of the limits during the report period.

The tri-annual social research was due to be commissioned shortly and an update would be provided at the next meeting.

Councillors from all Boroughs thanked the Communications Advisor for the work and invited him to attend their respective Cabinet meetings to present the work.

In response to member questions, the Communications Advisor advised that in relation to the 14,000 printed newsletters scheduled to be delivered, this was still found to be an effective method of communication, however he undertook to also look into alternative methods.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the contents of this report and commented on any aspects of communications and engagement activities relating to the Phase A and Phase B contracts.

The Strategic Partnership Manager presented the report and gave an overview of the main risks detailed within the report, advising that all risks were being closely monitored.

Members wished to explore further the options for deposit schemes and requested that the Partnership Manager speak to supermarkets and/or relevant organisations with the view to offering the four Boroughs for any pilot schemes relating to this. The Partnership Manager undertook to investigate this further.

RESOLVED: That the report was noted.

To confirm the following meeting dates for 2019/20:

Tuesday 17 September 2019

Tuesday 17 December 2019

Tuesday 21 April 2020

Tuesday 16 June 2020

The meetings will be held at Croydon Council.

RESOLVED: That the meeting dates for 2019/20 were agreed.

There was no urgent business.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 18 June 2019 at 6.30pm at Merton Civic Offices.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 18 June 2019 at 6.30pm at Merton Civic Offices.