Report attached

The Committee received a report on the current position regarding the Residual Waste Treatment Contract and other contracts and activities managed by the Partnership.

Updated reconciliation proposals have been reviewed and feedback is being awaited from STWER.  Performance figures were identified; recycling performance is at 4.2% against a target of 2.1%, recovery performance is 95.9% which is above the target of 95.5%. There is also 100% unprocessed landfill diversion rate.

It was reported that Sunderland City Council Planning Committee agreed to an amendment to the Campground Waste Transfer Station planning application to allow bulk haulage vehicles to use the site’s emergency road. A condition to the permission was attached that noise monitoring be undertaken within three months and that the number of vehicles using the route is recorded.

Construction work at the Visitor and Education Centre has been completed for the outdoor classroom.  Infrastructure work is ongoing to construct a greenhouse out of plastic bottles. Some of the bottles discarded during the Great North Run which were received from Middlefields Waste Transfer Station will be used.  It was confirmed that some of the media have already picked up on the story and opportunities to promote it further should be progressed.

It was noted that there has been a few minor outages at the EFW facility over the last year caused by blockages in the bottom ash chute. Space suits are now being used to deal with blockages quicker.  Line 4 will be shut down from 26 September until 3 October and line 5 will shut down on 23 until 29 October. During the shut down Durham’s waste will be redirected to other facilities so that the Partnership’s waste can be accommodated.

It was confirmed that Gateshead Council’s Economic and Housing Growth Service continues to receive information on vacancies. Currently 40% of the posts at the EfW facility and 70% of the post holders at the WTS’s are residents of the Partnership area.

Groundwork North East and Cumbria continue to work on community engagement, from April to August 2016 1648 children and young people participated in events at the Visitor and Education Centre. 284 local residents also took part in activities. A year long project is underway around Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) which is aimed at increasing WEEE reuse and recycling rates. Various events, including roadshows, school and amnesty events, have been held between May and August 2016.

The Campground Community Liaison Group met on 12 July and the last meeting of the Jack Crawford House Community Liaison Group was 22 September. No major issues were raised at either meeting.

In terms of the two Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) contracts the joint partnership team is in day-to-day contact with both contractors. The comingled material tonnage has decreased across the partnership and this will continue to be monitored. It was noted that South Tyneside shows an increase in the paper recycling performance, however it was acknowledged that this was from a low starting point and is catching up with the Gateshead and Sunderland position.  In comparison to the same period last year there has been a decrease in recovery, however generally waste is going up. This will be looked at closer in terms of trends and seasonal peaks and troughs. It was also noted that the quality of the material collected has significantly improved, therefore it was agreed that in future, quality as well as tonnage should be reported on.

The performance of the Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRC) is continuing to exceed targets.  In relation to the HWRC contract Gateshead and Sunderland have agreed to extend their contracts so that all are aligned and a joint partnership contract can be considered at the end of the current arrangements.

In terms of the green waste composting contracts, Gateshead joint partnership team recently led a joint procurement exercise supported by the Partnership’s lead procurement team and officers from partner authorities to award new contracts for the provision and operation of green waste composting facilities.

RESOLVED    -           That the Joint Executive Committee noted the progress of the

report.