Agenda item

 Report of the Head of Community Services.

The Head of Community Services presented the report and outlined the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy which will be delivered through the Leicestershire Waste Partnership. It was highlighted that North West Leicestershire District Council had been highly successful in terms of both recycling rates and the use of alternative fuels to reduce emissions from vehicles.

A member asked how the authority plans to tackle the problem of trade waste which had been fly tipped. Officers advised that it was not usually local residents who had been fly tipping but people travelling through the district, however the Council had been targeting businesses to try and reduce waste. It was noted that littering is a countrywide problem, however it was felt that this could be improved with the introduction of a deposit return scheme.

A member enquired whether it would be possible to target recycling centres to salvage items which had been disposed of with a view to selling these to raise money for charities. It was noted that a similar scheme exists in Derby and a member suggested that a visit be organised to see how this is successfully carried out. Officers agreed that this would be something the Council could consider.

Members felt that it was disappointing that Government delays in reaching decisions had been having a knock on effect in terms of Local Authorities making decisions. It was suggested that the authority would not be able to make a decision on the frequency of black bin collections until the issue of food waste had been tackled and also the link between carers disposing of child and adult nappies would need to be investigated further as less black bin collections would impact such carers unfairly.

A member expressed concern that in a time of food insecurity when many people are reliant on foodbanks that food waste was a problem. He suggested that people may need more education on how to utilise the food they have. Officers responded that this would be part of the plan going forward and confirmed that the Council has a designated Food Poverty Officer who would be able to deliver this.

A member enquired whether North West Leicestershire would be able to have a paint recycling facility whereby partially used cans of paint could be resold as opposed to being dumped.

It was disputed that the waste incinerator would be an environmentally friendly way to dispose of waste, however officers responded that there would be no option to dispose of waste in landfill now and that data had been requested regarding incineration as this would be part of the Council’s carbon footprint. A member asked if the incineration plant had the potential for an energy recovery scheme and officers agreed to acquire technical details in order to answer this.

By affirmation of the meeting it was

RESOLVED THAT:

Community Scrutiny Committee comment on the Draft Resources and Waste Strategy for Leicestershire 2022-2050 and the associated action plan and timeline, before consideration by Cabinet on 25 April 2023.