Agenda item

ES 20040

The Committee was briefed concerning the Environmental Services Contracts that had been awarded to Veolia on the 1st of April 2019. The update was given because the Council’s Corporate Performance Rules required that an annual performance review of the contract be provided, this was because the value of the contract exceeded £1m. Representatives from Veolia attended the meeting to answer questions. Veolia was represented by Nick Allan (Senior Contract Manager), Simon Moore (Regional Manager) and Matt Elmer (Waste Collection Contract Manager).

The Vice Chairman noted that the report provided data up to March 2020 and enquired as to what the performance ratios were post March. Mr Moore responded that Veolia had been dealing with an increased level of waste because more people were working from home. He explained that some services had been dropped during the peak of the Covid Pandemic so that the organisation could focus on the key matter of refuse collection. He said that ‘post Covid’, Veolia was still seeing high levels of waste. Veolia was trying to get back to normal levels of service; missed bin collections were decreasing but there was still much work to do. 

The Vice Chairman asked what was being done to decrease contamination levels, and what was being done to address the matter of missed bin collections.

Mr Moore explained that regarding contamination levels, much more wet paper was currently being collected; Veolia was considering the use of new containers. It was noted that the transfer station roof was in a state of disrepair, allowing some rainwater to damage paper whilst it was being stored. It was mentioned that Veolia was aiming to reduce the number of batteries entering the general waste stream--as these were a fire hazard.

Members heard that with respect to textiles, most of the textiles being left out for collection were not good quality, thus reducing their value. Some were not even good enough to be used as rags. Veolia expressed the view that the processing of textiles should be focused around the use of the existing textile banks. It was further noted that there was much contamination in glass waste.

The LBB Strategic Manager for Waste Services explained that as part of the new contract, contamination reporting was more transparent. Residents place materials that are not accepted for recycling within the green box for plastics, cans and glass. As a result of the improved data on contamination, Veolia’s communication team were working with Bromley on a contamination campaign this year. A schools recycling workshop would be provided to inform children as to what could and could not be recycled in Bromley, so that they could help their parents to recycle the right items. Flats recycling communications was another element of the contamination campaign planned for 2020/21 but had been slightly delayed as a result of COVID-19. 

A Member enquired if there was any statutory guidance in terms of the times that mechanical street cleaners could operate on residential roads and what arrangements were in place to clear footways when the mechanical cleaners were not able to gain access. Veolia responded that the service had not received many noise complaints and that the core operational hours were 6am to 6pm (Monday to Saturday). Tailored local solutions could be implemented if required. If complaints were received regarding noise, then Veolia would consider what options to take to reduce noise levels. Veolia was dealing reactively with any complaints on a case by case basis. It was explained that randomised checks were undertaken by client officers to check on the work that had been undertaken by Veolia 24 hours after the work had been carried out.

A Member referenced section 3.4 of Veolia’s annual report which mentioned that Veolia had expressed the view that it was approaching the limit on what realistically could be delivered. Veolia had asked the Council to review the consistency and achievability of the original targets for missed collections. The Member asked if Veolia could expand on this.

Mr Allan responded that there was room for improvement and Veolia were looking at the targets. He expressed the view that some of the targets needed adjusting. Prior to the Coronavirus outbreak, new services had been planned for September which were just starting.  Now, with everything being affected by Covid, it was difficult to assess where targets should be. The view was expressed that they needed six months to review and reassess targets.

A Member commented that it appeared that recent surveys regarding street cleaning had indicated that the service was slightly below target. It was mentioned that a new live system existed in the cabs of the lorries to assist the crew in knowing if they had missed bins.

The LBB Assistant Director for Environment also mentioned that Veolia were asking the Council to consider adjusting performance targets, and he felt that a period was needed to consider if any targets could be adjusted. It was probably the case that another six months would be needed to re-assess the data. He felt that the current performance of each element of the contract was  performing effectively. 

The use of purple sacks by residents to collect litter was also discussed, along with any possible future plans to collect and recycle this waste. A Member stated that currently, all of the litter waste collected in this manner was placed in the same sack, and then was taken to landfill. She wanted to know specifically if any plans were being made to recycle the litter that had been collected.

Veolia considered that the costs associated with this would be too high. They said it would not be economical, but gave assurances that waste collected in this manner would not be landfilled. The Member asked if this matter could be kept as a ‘work in progress’. Mr Allan suggested that possibly different colour bags could be used to aid with recycling the litter. Additionally, room would be required on site for storage. The Member responded, saying that the Biggin Hill Ward would be happy to run any pilot scheme.

The Chairman and Vice Chairman thanked Veolia for their sterling efforts over the period of the lockdown. The Chairman mentioned that he was aware that some other local authorities had not discontinued any services during this period and wondered why Bromley had not done the same.

Mr Moore responded that in his view, LBB had done the right thing in providing an effective limited service focusing on refuse collection. It had been the case in both the Bromley and Croydon boroughs that a large number of Veolia staff had gone off work during the early stages of the pandemic, which had affected service delivery.

The Chairman raised the issue of missed bin collections (which was one of the main issues of concern within the Bromley Borough) and asked if the new system that noted missed bin collections was robust enough from the point of view of Bromley residents.  It was explained that there was ‘in cab technology’ which would allocate collections to crews and that feedback regarding any missed bins would be directed to a ‘micro site’ which would then feed directly into the Bromley Council website. There had been a huge increase in the collection of cardboard and it was possible that Bromley could make a charge for this. It was explained that the collection of large cardboard flat packs was not a statutory obligation.

The Vice Chairman asked what precautions were being taken to protect staff during the current Covid Pandemic.  Mr Moore responded that Veolia had plenty of PPE and had put in place rigorous protocols for cleaning vehicles, the wearing of masks, and that these processes had been laid down plainly in the company guidelines. They had developed continuity plans to cope with a possible second wave of the virus which included quick testing for staff. 

A Member commented that with respect to Covid 19, it should be accepted that the current conditions would probably remain unchanged for some time--this would be the ‘new normal’. She was unclear as to why issues related to wet paper collection were currently a concern--she felt that as far as this matter was concerned, circumstances had not changed. She stated that the issue of missed bins should be dealt with. Collections should now return to normal and that LBB should not accept a higher level of missed bins—collections should return to acceptable levels; Covid19 was no longer an excuse and Veolia should be maintaining the contractual targets.

The LBB Strategic Manager for Waste Services said that it was too early to say if the change that had occurred in waste tonnages as a result of COVID-19 would be sustained--she felt that the current increase in paper tonnage would stay the same while people were working from home. The problems associated with recycling wet paper being rejected would vary depending on the tonnage collected; weather conditions, how long the box had been left outside, and the general manner in which the bins were presented. It also depended on the market for paper. At the moment the demand for paper was lower than the amount of paper collected for recycling as a result of the decline in printed media. This meant that the paper industry would only accept high quality paper and card with a low moisture content. It was in LBB’s interest to achieve high quality paper and card recycling, as the Council could obtain good income from paper and card recycling.

A Member raised the question as to whether or not LBB was doing any investigation into the recycling centres—it was felt that some local traders used the centres to dispose of waste late at night; it was asked if checks could be carried out on what they were doing, and was it possible that they could be identified? They needed to pay for their waste collections.

The correct disposal of commercial waste by businesses was discussed. It was noted that this was something that LBB could investigate in partnership with Veolia to check if local businesses were compliant and if they possessed the relevant waste transfer note. LBB was conscious of the issues, and plans were in place to deal with such matters if they arose in the future.

The Chairman thanked the representatives from Veolia for attending the meeting.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the report.