Content

Audio recording
– 13 minutes 12 seconds
 
Councillor Amy Allen, Executive Member for
Recycling and Waste Management presented the report entitled
‘Expansion of the Soft Plastics Collection Trial’ and
advised that:
 

·      
This report sought approval for the expansion of the kerbside
collection of soft plastics.

·      
A trial had taken place in Knebworth since November 2023, where
approximately 2,000 households had fortnightly collections of soft
plastics, which had been successful.

·      
The proposed expansion across North and East Hertfordshire would
reach around 6,250 homes by 2025.
 
The following Members asked questions:
 

·      
Councillor Ruth Brown

·      
Councillor Ian Albert

·      
Councillor Elizabeth Dennis
 
In response to questions the Contracts Manager
– Waste advised that:
 

·      
As the trial in Knebworth had been successful the next areas to be
trialled would be Royston and some of the villages in the Royston,
to gain a wider demographical picture.

·      
An initial flyer had been posted to residents, followed by a hand
delivery of a leaflet and a pack of sacks to enable residents to
participate in the trial.

·      
There had been positive feedback received from residents and more
sacks had been requested.

·      
This project will be fully funded up to April.

·      
North Herts Council would be introducing this across the district
from 2025 which was ahead of the government deadline of 2027.

·      
Work was ongoing with the current processor to look at what was
working well with the collections and what was not going so well,
to produce a final service design for the contract.
 
Councillor Amy Allen proposed, and Councillor
Ruth Brown seconded, and following a vote, it was:
 
RESOLVED: That Cabinet:
 

(1)  
Agreed to the expansion of the Flex Collect trial and kerbside
collections of soft plastics.

 

(2)  
Delegated to the Service Director Place any necessary change to the
collection demographic and area for the trial.

 

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

 

(1)  
One of the key aims of the project is to
give insight into the types and quantities of soft plastics
available for collection. The current Knebworth collections
partially mimic the 2025 services, however the expansion of the
service seeks to gather data from a wider demographic.

 

(2)  
North Herts residents’ current participation in the trial has
yielded good participation levels with high volumes of soft
plastics being collected per household. The Shared Waste Service is
also gathering information on collection issues and the
effectiveness of communication methods. Expanding the project will
give the Council an opportunity to further test operational
implications of collections, quantities and types of plastic
collected from different areas and exploring processing
requirements. The expanded trial more closely mimics the new
service roll out in 2025.

 

(3)  
The expanded trial coincidences with the Shared Waste Service
undertaking market testing in advance of considering processing
options for material from 2025. The additional trial data will
inform our future Material Recovery Facility (MRF) contract
procurement or extension needs for 2025 and provide data for the
wider industry to better prepare for the anticipated mandated
collection of soft plastics.

 

(4)  
The expansion of the trial is fully funded until April 2025 by the
Flexible Plastics Fund.