Agenda item

To support proposals relating to the new residual waste reduction incentive agreements with district councils. The agreements replace existing Food Waste Collection and Delivery Arrangements.

Cllr Nigel Moor, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, presented proposals relating to new residual waste reduction incentive arrangements for discussion with district councils. The arrangements to replace existing Food Waste Collection and Delivery Arrangements.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

1. Support the agreement of new Residual Waste Reduction Incentive Arrangements with each of the Waste Collection Authorities on the basis described in section 2 of the decision report, with a view to ensuring that the reduction of residual waste in Gloucestershire continues to be prioritised and supported; and

2. Delegate authority to the Head of Joint Waste Management, in consultation with the Chief Executive, to enter into new residual waste reduction incentive agreements with Waste Collection Authorities from July 2020 under which the authorities will be incentivised to reduce waste through the provision of waste reduction, reuse and recycling initiatives.

Cllr Nigel Moor, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, presented proposals relating to the new residual waste reduction incentive arrangements, prior to discussion with district councils. The arrangements would replace the existing Food Waste Collection and Delivery Arrangements.

Cllr Moor informed members that, currently, the County Council had bi-lateral agreements in place with each Gloucestershire district council, whereby a discretionary incentive payment was made to them by the council for reducing residual household waste. The current arrangements have helped to increase recycling, particularly through the introduction of separate collections of food waste.

However, with variances from district to district in terms of meeting targets and in the payments they receive, there has arisen a shared desire to agree a fairer system. It was noted that the new arrangement would need to be affordable to the council.

The proposed new payment would take effect from July 2020, comprising three components:

1. A fixed payment, in recognition that all districts have invested in recycling and composting services and as a result have certain fixed or standing costs.
2. An incentive or performance payment, determined by a district council’s performance against a household residual waste target.
3. A partnership and communications match fund payment, where each district makes an agreed annual contribution that is matched by GCC.

The third element of the proposed payment would provide a working budget for the new Waste and Resources Partnership that is proposed as a replacement to the Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee. (The committee formally ended on 13 December 2019). It was noted that a new partnership arrangement would be considered under the next agenda item.

The proposed payment system has been developed in consultation with district councils. The proposal aims to provide continued incentives aimed at reducing of waste, but, under a new, fairer and more transparent payment system.

It was confirmed that there had been broad approval of the proposal by the Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee. There had also been slight disagreement amongst the districts as to the proportions of ‘fixed’ and ‘performance based’ incentive payments, (with Stroud District Council, in particular, calling for a higher proportion of the incentive to be performance based).

Cllr Moor believed the unit payments recommended by the report represented an appropriate balance of recognising fixed costs and, at the same time, incentivising good waste reduction and recycling performance.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

1. Support the agreement of new Residual Waste Reduction Incentive Arrangements with each of the Waste Collection Authorities on the basis described in section 2 of the decision report, with a view to ensuring that the reduction of residual waste in Gloucestershire continues to be prioritised and supported; and

2. Delegate authority to the Head of Joint Waste Management, in consultation with the Chief Executive, to enter into new residual waste reduction incentive agreements with Waste Collection Authorities from July 2020 under which the authorities will be incentivised to reduce waste through the provision of waste reduction, reuse and recycling initiatives.