Issue - meetings

ES20305

Attending to present the report from the London Borough of Bromley were Catherine Cook, (Head of Environment Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning) and the Assistant Director for Environment, Mr Peter McCready.  Representing Veolia was Regional Manager, Mr Ben Velmans.

The report was presented to the committee to provide a review of the 2022/23 annual performance of the three environmental services contracts managed by Veolia ES UK Limited. The committee was recommended to review and comment on the contents of the report.

The Chairman stated that he was pleased with the report and with Veolia’s performance. He asked if Veolia’s previous  industrial relations issues had now been resolved and the response was affirmative. 

A discussion took place regarding recycling in general and particularly with respect to flats above shops. It was noted that the previous recycling pilot in Penge and Cator Ward  for flats above shops had failed. A  Member commented that the scheme was too complicated and that there should have been just one bag for recycling and then one other bag for all other waste. The Council would provide bins where required for recycling, but sometimes there were problems if the area was commercial land. A recent visit had been undertaken with Clarion on the Ramsden Estate to discuss areas that could be used for bins. 

The Head of Environment Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning said that recycling and waste collections from flats above shops was problematic due to the lack of space--both internally and externally. ReLondon were currently conducting trials in other London boroughs and testing different collection methods for flats above shops. LBB would consider the report once it was released, to see whether the Council could use any of the findings in developing its own scheme.

It was noted that 100% of waste was processed either in the UK or Europe depending on the location of the appropriate infrastructure. Much paper recycling was taking place in Belgium and it was now the case that no paper was being lost.   

Mr Velmans said that with respect to missed collections, Veolia was seeking to increase resilience and had spent six months giving consideration as to how this could be achieved in the spirit of continuous improvement. 

The matter of POPs was discussed (Persistent Organic Pollutants) and it was noted that items that may contain these pollutants would be incinerated.

The Chairman thanked Mr Velmans for attending and for answering questions.

RESOLVED that the Environment and Community Services PDS Committee note the report.