Agenda and minutes

The Joint Executive Committee is asked to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2020 (attached)

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2020 were agreed as a true record.

The Committee wished to place upon record their thanks and appreciation to Colin Curtis who had recently retired from Sunderland City Council.

The Committee thanked Colin for his work on the Joint Executive Committee and wished him well for the future.

No declarations of interest were received.

Presentation

The Joint Executive Committee received a presentation on the future kerbside recycling options for the partnership, including the delivery of updated market engagement exercise, the determination of the kerbside collection model from 2022 and the development of a timeline for the full procurement of the MRF contract from 2022.

Report attached

The JEC received a report, advising the Joint Executive Committee of the latest

position regarding the Residual Waste Treatment Contract and other ancillary

waste joint contracts and activities managed by the South Tyne and Wear

Waste Management Partnership (STWWMP)

The joint partnership team continues to undertake several waste management

functions on behalf of the partner authorities, including reviewing and verifying

monthly contract reports, which detail materials processed and service issues. 

Once approved, invoices are processed and, where appropriate, apportioned

between partner authorities within contractual timescales. 

This is enabling, amongst other things, a proactive and timely approach to

management of the RWTC which is operated under strict timescales.  Similar

benefits are also afforded to the procurement and management of other

ancillary contracts, such as MRF, HWRC, and green waste composting.

RESIDUAL WASTE TREATMENT CONTRACT (RWTC)

During the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic restrictions, household

waste levels have continued to remain high.  However, all partner authorities

have been able to maintain residual waste collections from households across

STWWMP without interruption. 

COVID-19 contingency measures remain in place across all SUEZ RWTC sites

and no significant staffing issues have arisen.  The three waste transfer stations

have continued to manage the waste levels received and the EfW facility

continues to operate as planned and process the waste for energy recovery.

Where possible, home working for support services has been implemented.

SUEZ have advised that they are intending to apply for funding to pursue a ground-breaking carbon capture and storage project with project partners BP.  Utilising the EfW facilities at Haverton Hill and Wilton, the project is aimed at neutralising carbon through liquification so it can be returned to gas reservoirs in the sea via underground pipelines.  The partner authorities have provided a letter of support for the project.

EfW Service Update

Appendix A (which was attached to the main reports) highlights the 2020/21

contract performance for the period April-October.  Plant availability has

remained strong at 97.69% and turbine availability 94.88%.  

Both contractual recycling and recovery performance continues to operate above target and the unprocessed landfill diversion rate remains at 100%.

The JEC were informed that the exercise to replace the Debt Service Reserve

Account (DSRA) with a contingent Debt Service Reserve Facility (DSRF) was

completed and closed in October.  The financial model has been agreed which

has resulted in a £1.69 per tonne reduction to the Band 0 price for all partner

authorities. Over the remainder of the contract, this equates to an estimated

saving per annum of Gateshead: £88,000; South Tyneside:  £84,000; and

Sunderland: £105,000.

The Annual Unitary Charge Forecast Monthly Payment has been amended for

2020/21 so the benefit can be realised immediately rather than being accounted

for within the reconciliation process.

The third JICR was previously submitted by Willis Towers Watson and reviewed

by STWWMP.  A response from STWER is still awaited.

2020/21 Insurance Premium

Due to market availability, STWER requested another change in the insurance

cover for the forthcoming insurance year (from 1 November).  They advised that

they expect the insurance premiums  ...  view the full minutes text for item 101.

Report attached

The Joint Executive Committee received a report providing an update on the progress of the latest refresh of the South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy.

The Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS) was agreed by

each partner authority Cabinet in 2007.  It covers the management of municipal

waste for the period 2007–2027 and includes:

·         Waste collected from households

·         Recycling collections

·         Waste taken to recycling banks

·         Collections of bulky waste

·         Street sweepings

·         Collection of household clinical waste

·         Commercial/trade waste collected by the local authorities

·         Fly-tipped waste

·         Waste accepted at household waste recycling centres

It does not consider most industrial, commercial, construction, or demolition

wastes, which are generally managed by the private sector.

Whilst there is no statutory requirement for STWWMP to produce a JMWMS,

the Partnership considers the publication of a strategy as ‘best practice’ and

has committed to undertaking regular reviews, the first of which was published

in January 2013.

The JEC were advised that it is important that STWWMP can ensure that the partner authorities have a

relevant, top-level, waste management strategy available to them.  This will

support flexibility in service delivery whilst continuing to meet key aims and

aspirations.

However, the current JMWMS is now significantly out of date – largely because of the significant achievements successfully delivered by the partner authorities since its publication in 2013.  This includes:

·       The completion of the new residual waste processing and treatment infrastructure (including the construction of the STWWMP energy-from-waste facility) and service commencement of the 25-year residual waste treatment contract;

·       The development of complementary household kerbside recycling services across all three partner authorities, including the introduction of additional recyclable materials;

·       The introduction of a dedicated community education and engagement programme delivered by third sector environmental regeneration charity Groundwork North East & Cumbria from our new visitor and education centre at Campground;

·       The establishment of a joint partnership team to provide the Waste Disposal Authority functions on behalf of the partner authorities through the day-to-day contract management functions for the range of waste treatment and recycling contracts with external service providers; and

·       The development of close and effective working relationships at all levels with SUEZ, Groundwork North East & Cumbria, and other external recycling contractors.

The refreshed JMWMS structure previously agreed by the Joint Executive

Committee was initially intended to provide strategic direction for the period

2018-2022 but, for the reasons highlighted above, it has not been possible to

further progress the publication of the JMWMS. 

However, as the uncertainty across the waste sector is likely to continue for the

near future, to ensure that high-level guidance can be provided to support

decisions on future service delivery issues and inform short-to-medium term

budget planning cycles, it is important that further consideration is given to

reconsider the work previously undertaken based on the latest information

available and realign the five-year strategy refresh to cover the period 2021-

2025. 

The refreshed JMWMS has been designed to:

·       Be easy to understand, follow, and enable progress to be monitored.

·       Consider the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102.

Report attached

The Joint Executive Committee received a report which provided an update on

the progress of the Environment Bill through Parliament following the delay

caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The Environment Bill aims to ensure that England maintains and improves its

environmental protections when the UK leaves the EU.  It supports the delivery

of the government’s 25-year Environment Plan through:

·       Provisions regarding targets, plans, and policies for improving the natural environment;

·       The establishment of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP);

·       Provisions about waste and resource efficiency;

·       Provisions concerning air quality;

·       Provisions for the recall of products that fail to meet environmental standards;

·       Provisions regarding water;

·       Provisions concerning nature and biodiversity;

·       Provisions for conservation covenants; and

·       Provisions about the regulation of chemicals; and for connected purposes.

The Bill was first introduced to Parliament in October 2019 and passed its

second reading unopposed by MPs on 28 October.  It subsequently progressed

to the committee stage for further scrutiny and the next stages of the

Parliamentary process for becoming law. 

The Environment Bill Committee was due to reconvene to ‘scrutinise the bill line

by line’ and table amendments with the aim of reporting back to Parliament on

1 December, but this process was paused following the dissolution of

Parliament on 5 November for the General Election on 12 December 2019. 

The Bill was subsequently reintroduced at the end of January 2020 but, once

again, its progress was paused on 19 March due to the COVID-19 coronavirus

pandemic.

Committee discussions recommenced on 3 November 2020.  Following the

Bill’s completion of Committee Stage, it will be further scrutinised by the whole

House of Commons at Report Stage and Third Reading, after which it will then

move to the House of Lords for further debate and scrutiny.

The JEC were informed that in terms of the waste and resource efficiency provisions, the Bill provides a legal framework to deliver many of the proposals identified in the national Resources and Waste Strategy (‘Our Waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England’), should government choose to do so.  The introduction of new powers and amendments to existing legislation will have a number of implications for the resources and waste sector, especially local authority waste services.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

The Resources and Waste Strategy (RaWS) includes proposals to reform the

UK packaging producer responsibility system, which is also known as Extended

Producer Responsibility (EPR).  This proposal will require packaging producers

to pay for the full cost of managing materials at their end-of-life, i.e. the cost of

collecting and sorting waste for disposal.  The ‘full net cost recovery’

requirement of the Bill is aimed at incentivising packaging producers to eco-

design products with sustainability or recycling in mind. 

Under the current system, local authorities mostly meet the cost of the collection

and disposal of packaging.  However, recycling disposal costs fluctuate as

market values fall or when material is not wanted by reprocessors on economic

or market grounds.  Although the Bill covers a range of topics - including  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

The next meeting of the Joint Executive Committee will be held on Friday 12 March 2021 at 1.30 pm

The next meeting will be held on Friday 12 March 2021 at 1.30 pm venue tba