Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director of Environment and Resident Experience. To be presented by the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment & Transport

The Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport introduced the report.

It was explained that the proposed strategy demonstrated the commitment to transforming how the Council thought about waste, moving from a linear 'take-make-dispose' model to a truly circular economy where materials were kept in use for as long as possible. It was explained that the Council was already making progress: through Community Fund supporting grassroots repair initiatives, expanding networks of specialist recycling services, ReUse Shop at King's Road, and education programmes at the new EcoPark House.

It was explained that the Council aimed to double the amount of material reused through our Reuse and Recycling Centres, reduce avoidable food waste and recyclable materials in residual waste by 50%, and achieve zero waste to landfill by 2040. These were stretching targets that reflected the urgency of the climate emergency.

In response to comments and questions from Councillors Ovat and Cawley-Harrison, the following information was shared:

• Officers explained that the 50% recycling rate target of the North London Joint Waste Strategy was contained and mirrored within the London Environment Strategy.
  
  
• It was explained by officers that the types of waste from households had changed significantly since COVID, noting that the weight of waste had decreased and that packaging size had decreased, which would necessitate a change in how the service worked.
  
  
• It was explained that the Strategy would look at ways to reduce waste at source and look at the potential to encourage repair and reuse, as part of a circular economy.
  
  
• It was explained that there was a comprehensive schools plan as part of the strategy which would work to educate children to promote recycling.
  
  
• It was explained that the authority were undertaking food waste trials for flats above shops; it was explained that different pilot methods were being used to identify the best way of disposing of food. Officers highlighted that there were multiple different solutions which were being trialled and suggested.
  
  
• It was explained that the waste incinerator utilised by the authority was one of the cleanest in the UK. It was additionally stressed that, without that incinerator, the Council would be required to utilise other provision, which would further increase the Council’s carbon footprint, and increase costs.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1. Approved the draft North London Joint Waste Strategy;
   
   
2. Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Environment and Resident Experience to agree minor changes to the strategy as appropriate.
   
   

Reasons for the decision

It was a requirement under section 32 of the Waste and Emissions Act 2003 for waste authorities for a two-tier area to have had a joint strategy for the management of municipal waste (household waste and business waste collected by the local authority, and waste which was similar in nature and composition to household waste, as required by the Landfill Directive).

The most recent JWS covered the period 2004 to 2020. That strategy largely focused on finding a solution for residual waste disposal infrastructure in north London, which had since been agreed upon through a comprehensive options appraisal and formal planning process, and facilities were then under development.

The development of this strategy over the past 3 years had been timed in relation to both the above process and because of significant legislative changes that had been in development by Government over the previous 5 years and which were coming into practice at that time and in the coming 2 years.

It was therefore the right time to put an up-to-date strategy in place that had been able to take into account these changes.

In all, the strategy was necessary to provide the framework within which the eight authorities would make decisions on and deliver essential services over the coming 15 years, facilitating the most cost-effective and environmentally advantageous management of waste.

It should also be noted that the strategy did not define or restrict how borough collection services would operate in the future, in response to local circumstances, which would be decisions for individual authorities to make, having regard to the objectives of the Strategy. The council was undertaking its own process across street cleansing as well as waste collection through the procurement of services for April 2027 onwards.

Alternative options considered:

Not proceeding with a joint strategy for the management of waste. However, this would have meant non-compliance under section 32 of the Waste and Emissions Act 2003 for waste authorities for a two-tier area to have had a joint strategy for the management of waste.