‘Two-bag’ rubbish shake-up has seen recycling rates soar
But the service provided by Kier still needs to improve in some areas, admits council:
BRIDGEND’S controversial new waste scheme still has “significant pockets of under performance” but recycling rates have hit an “all-time high” council chiefs have said.
Ahead of a crunch meeting to discuss the implementation of the two-bag limit, they have issued official figures which they say proves the area is on course to have one of the best recycling rates in Wales at 74%.
But a report due to be scrutinised by councillors today states that the service provided by Kier is not out of the woods yet.
While “the performance of the contract has improved significantly” there remains “significant pockets of under performance”.
Report author Mark Shephard, corporate director communities, said issues included “recurring examples of the same streets or individual houses being missed for particular collections or failing to receive deliveries”.
But he has also admitted that the early weeks of the contract, set to run for seven years, “were characterised by an unacceptable level of missed collections, significant problems with the performance of the call centre and an unexpectedly high level of requests for new recycling equipment leading in some cases to delays”.
He said Bridgend County Borough Council was still “seeking to improve and resolve” issues with Kier. But he said the “vast majority” of households now receive the service “the council has specified”.
Two weeks after the contract began in June, amid a heatwave and evergrowing piles of bin bags, more than 40 councillors signed an open letter calling on council leader Huw David to “recognise that a crisis is unfolding”.
Mr Shephard states in his report: “Both the council and Kier are aware that there remains a considerable amount of work to do to entirely satisfy the requirements of the contract on a consistent basis and both are working diligently to achieve this.”
He also stated that while the council “has always regarded enforcement action as a last resort”, compliance with the policy, which limits most households to just two bin bags per fortnight, “will slip” unless the council and contractor “moves to a stricter interpretation of the policy and address instances of non-compliance”.
He said that in the new year the contractor will start “stickering” additional bags left out or give warnings “before moving to any potential fines or enforcement action”.
He has also addressed concerns about privacy and dignity issues concerning the see-through purple bags for absorbent hygiene product (AHP) collections. He said in recognition of this being a “sensitive issue” for some adults, discreet collection points can be agreed with the contractor or householders can double bag to prevent the contents being visible through the translucent bags.
Meanwhile the council said official figures have revealed that the amount of household waste diverted away from landfill between July and September rose from 57% in 2016 to 74% in 2017.
A spokesman said this puts the borough on course to not only meet strict new recycling targets set by the Welsh Government, but to surpass them entirely. Out of the 22 councils in Wales, Bridgend is one of 17 that is using fortnightly collections. Four councils collect it every three weeks, and one is trialing monthly collections.
Statistics have also revealed that between June and August 2017, local community recycling centres recorded a 254 tonne increase in recycling while waste sent for disposal as landfill fell by 957 tonnes.
With annual household collections expected to total more than six million, the current missed collection rate stands at 0.2%, the council has stated.
The collection of nappies and other absorbent hygiene products has seen 7,720 households sign up for the service, and an average of 100 extra requests are being received every week.