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Cabinet received a report seeking authority to
spend some of the allocated £1.078m funding for 2025/6 to
deliver new and enhanced initiatives aimed at achieving higher
rates of recycling in Stevenage.  This
included the introduction of facilities at flat blocks that
currently had no/limited on-site provision and/or required building
works to enable level access for collection purposes.
 
Members noted that the report also proposed
funding a Project Manager to oversee the implementation of these
changes, working with residents to help make this a success.
 
The Portfolio Holder advised that this was a
real opportunity for the Council to increase its recycling rates
with the inclusion of 74 flat blocks in the town which currently
had no recycling facilities.  He thanked
the officers for their work on this initiative.
 
Members welcomed the improvements,
particularly highlighting the new 3 wheeled wheelie bins which had
been developed by the Team and suggested that the possibility of a
patent for the design should be investigated.
 
It was RESOLVED:
 
1.   
That the use of up to £719,000 from EPR
funding to deliver recycling improvements to seventy-four flat
blocks, to provide the necessary opportunities for residents to
recycle plastics, glass, cardboard and food be approved.

2.   
That up to £199,000 from EPR funding to
support the implementation of separate food waste collections to
residents, should the funding received for this from the Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) need to be
increased be approved.

3.   
That an allocation of £52,000 from the EPR
funding to fund the SDS waste project manager costs in 25/26 and
commits to a subsequent allocation to fund the salary (with any pay
increase) in 26/27 (subject to funding), to deliver the legislative
requirement for separate weekly food waste collections from
residential premises from April 2026, and to support the delivery
of the flat block recycling improvements be approved.