Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1             The purpose of this report is to update Members on the progress made to date in the planning and launch of three initiatives to improve the service delivery and recycling performance of Waste Collections within Resources and Fleet. These initiatives are

 

·        Small Streets Pilot with PSNI/DFI

·        Introduction of Small Vehicles for Difficult to Access Streets

·        Expansion of Separate Glass Collection Services.

 

            It will be seen that these initiatives have been progressed to such a stage that officers will provide regular progress reports to Committee going forward.

 

2.0       Recommendation

 

2.1       Members are requested to note the contents of the report, in particular

 

·        The status of the collaborative work with PSNI/DFI

·        the phased introduction of small vehicle routes to difficult to access streets commencing 12th August 2024

·        the letter of offer from DAERA in relation to the BCC application to the DAERA Household Waste Collaborative Change Programme for match funding to procure equipment (containers and vehicles) for expanded glass collections 

 

3.0       Main Report

 

3.1       Small Streets Pilot in collaboration with PSNI and DFI.

 

3.2       Members will be aware that this pilot was launched on 6th May 2024, with the first area identified as the side streets from the Stranmillis Road in the University area. The plan was envisaged to run as follows.

 

Area	Start Date
Stranmillis Rd Area	06/05/2024
Donegall Road / Village Area	03/06/2024
Cregagh/ Loopland Area	01/07/2024
Springfield Road Area	29/07/2024
Lower Ormeau Road/ Park Road Area	26/08/2024
‘Iveagh’ Area	23/09/2024

 

3.3       It was envisaged that in each area the timetable would be as follows:

 

            Week 1   –    BCC staff Letter Drop to residents addresses and social media postings

            Week 2    –     PSNI will patrol and letter windscreens of poorly parked vehicles with leaflets.

            Weeks 3-6 – Increased presence of joint PSNI/DFI neighbourhood officers and traffic attendants

 

3.4       To date three areas have gone ahead as per the plan. Letter drops by BCC officers were carried out as planned, and DFI patrolling was carried out as agreed. Unfortunately, the PSNI have informed council officers that they have not been able to provide resources as planned due to other prioritised operational pressures during this period.

 

3.5       At the time of writing, two areas have gone through their first cycle and the third will end soon. Officers have started looking at the data from these areas, both before and after each cycle, and hope to bring in more detailed analysis and results to the September 2024 Committee meeting. Officers have asked if DFI can provide some relevant data but unfortunately, they have let it be known that their systems are not configured to report on a street by street basis. Therefore, data will be collected from BCC records only.

 

3.6       As a note, officers can confirm that at the request of a Member from the area, a small adjustment has been made to the streets proposed in the Springfield Road area, namely Rose Street has been removed and Waterford Gardens and Cavendish Street have been added.

 

            Introduction of Small Vehicles for Difficult to Access Streets

 

3.7       The previous update to Committee in February 2024 outlined a proposed timeline of a launch of this initiative sometime in Q1 2024 (March – June) with actual dates to be confirmed. This was subject to timely procurement of suitable Refuse Collection Vehicles and the successful recruitment of staff to run or backfill for the duration of this trial.

 

            In addition, officers reported that significant data analysis was ongoing in order to test the assumptions of the Consultant’s report and findings and to create as effective and efficient routes as possible prior to operational launch.

 

3.8       Since then Waste Collection officers have been working on those outstanding actions. Good progress has been made:

 

·        Two 18 tonnes Dennis Eagle Refuse Collection Vehicles have been leased for an initial period of 12 months; and

·        Staff have been sourced to operate the proposed routes.

 

            Since their arrival the collection vehicles have been utilised in some rigorous testing of the Consultant’s report findings, to

 

·        Verify access to defined streets;

·        Test the numbers of bins presented, and the actual weight of waste being produced within the defined streets compared to the consultants report; and

·        Carry out actual timings of travel times between streets and frequency and travel times to tip and the Waste Transfer Station.

 

            The revised ‘actual’ information will be considered when preparing  routing plans for the new vehicles.

 

3.9       From the testing it has been found that the figures in the consultant’s report may be a little optimistic. This is due mainly to actual increased weights within bins vis a vis the estimates in the consultants report and the increased occurrence of more than one black bin being presented per household over and above the consultants expectation. Both of these factors have resulted in smaller route sizes due to the necessity to tip fully laden vehicles at the Waste Transfer Station more often than envisaged.

 

3.10      Because of these variances, Waste Collections propose to introduce the small vehicles in a phased approach. This is to ensure that the service does not raise unachievable expectations and then have to reverse changes to routing which may prove problematic. This is also designed to minimise the number of changes to collection days for residents.

 

            The planned phases are as follows:

 

            Phase 1 – Aug 12th to Sept 30th

 

·        One vehicle will be fully loaded with Black Bin collection routes and will be fully monitored to establish if the routes have spare capacity or are overloaded in practice. This will continue for 6 weeks giving each chosen street 3 collections (1 per fortnight). Any spare capacity or overloading issues will be quantified and streets added to / removed from routes as deemed appropriate; and

·        The second vehicle will be used for on going route development and refinement. Further trials will take place for blue and brown bin collections to establish as accurate routes as possible.

 

            Phase 2 – Sept 30th – Nov 4th

 

·        Second period of 6 weeks( 3 collection rounds);

·        The first vehicle routes will be fully established and operational. Should there be surplus capacity this will be made available in the short term for Brown and Blue collections; and

·        The second vehicle will onboard any additional black bin collections as required. Spare capacity will be allocated to begin roll out of brown and blue bin collections.

 

            Phase 3 – Nov 4th onward

 

·        Both vehicles will be given established routes for all collection; and

·        Synergies will be explored with the current 18 tonnes vehicle which currently carries out recovery collections and some similar activities on a limited basis.

 

3.11      A list of streets being changed to smaller collection vehicle routes from 12th August had been attached to the report as a restricted item.

 

3.12      Please note that following agreement at the Lord Mayor’s Cleanliness Task Force, streets that are part of the separate PSNI/DFI pilot are currently not included in this exercise, and since the consultant’s report was commissioned, it is important to note that Waste Collections management have continued to resolve individual street collection issues. Additionally, where a satisfactory solution to a street’s access issues has been put in place within the last 12-18 months resulting in consistent collections being established over an extended period of time, they have not been included in Phase 1 if the initiative, but all streets will remain under constant review.

 

            Expansion of Separate Glass Collection Services

 

3.13      Following a feasibility study into the expansion of the kerbside collection of glass, Members approved revenue funding to deliver phase 1 of this project aimed at delivering the scheme to an additional 22,000 households in 24/25.

 

3.14      Resources and Fleet subsequently compiled and submitted an application to DAERA under the Household Waste Collaborative Change Programme for financial assistance with regard to capital funding for the project. After a series of clarifications from the regulator, officers can report that a Letter of Offer was received from DAERA on 25th July, outlining the scale and conditions of funding. Subject to the Council’s approval of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning, amongst other things, capital funding on a 50/50 basis, the project will now progress to implementation mode.

 

3.15      The Implementation phase involves the recruitment of collection crews, procurement of containers (44 litre boxes & lids), initial leasing of vehicles prior to the procurement of new vehicles, communication of the scheme to the selected households, assessment of apartments (if any within the selected areas) and finally delivery of containers followed by first collections.

 

3.16      Given the lead times associated with a number of these activities, in particular the purchase and receipt of containers, and mindful of the potential clash with collections arrangements for the Xmas season, it is envisaged that the implementation phase will be completed in Q4 of the current financial year.

 

3.17      The Service will continue to keep Members appraised of the progress of the scheme through the Council’s usual governance procedures.

 

            Financial and Resource Implications

 

3.18      In relation to the expansion of glass collections, DAERA will 50/50 match fund the agreed capital requirements as agreed in their Letter of Offer, subject to the Memorandum of Understanding having been agreed by the Council.

 

            Equality or Good Relations Implications/

            Rural Needs Assessment

 

3.19      None.”

 

            During discussion, whilst the Members broadly welcomed the small vehicles pilot, it was noted that Councillors wished to be involved in any expansion of the scheme to ensure that other problem streets in their constituency areas were considered for inclusion and noted that the agreed streets should also have been considered by the People and Communities Committee and not just the Lord Mayor’s Cleanliness Task Force.

 

            Several of the Members welcomed the expansion of the separate glass collection services and noted it was long overdue in some areas.

 

The Committee noted:

 

·        the status of the collaborative work with the PSNI and DfI;

·        the phased introduction of small vehicle routes to difficult to access streets, commencing week beginning 12th August 2024; and

·        the letter of offer from DAERA in relation to the BCC application to the DAERA Household Waste Collaborative Change Programme for match funding to procure equipment (containers and vehicles) for expanded glass collections.