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Report to:
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Place Scrutiny
Committee
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Date of
meeting:
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28 March
2023
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By:
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Director of
Communities, Economy and Transport
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Title:
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Food Waste –
Environment Act 2021 requirements
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Purpose:
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To provide the
Scrutiny Committee with an update on East Sussex County Council
preparations for future food waste collection services.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Place Scrutiny
Committee is recommended to:
1) note the report;
and
2) consider whether
to carry out any further scrutiny work on this topic.
1
Background Information
1.1.
Currently, most of the food waste produced by the residents in East
Sussex goes in the black bin or bag and is taken to Newhaven Energy
Recovery Facility (ERF). Some food waste will be composted at home
by residents, but we do not have any data on how much this might
be.
1.2.
Newhaven ERF burns all waste that is not recycled, to produce
electricity and creates enough energy to power over 25,000 homes,
which it supplies to the National Grid.
1.3.
In East Sussex residential waste and recycling services are
provided by the five borough and district councils.
Responsibilities of East Sussex
authorities
1.4.
East Sussex district and borough councils as the waste collection
authorities (WCAs) are responsible for the following
activities:–
·
collection of black bag waste
·
collection of recycling
·
street cleaning
·
litter bins
·
on street recycling bins
·
removal and investigation of fly tipping
·
beach cleaning
1.5.
The County Council, as the Waste Disposal Authority, is responsible
for:
·
recycling and recovery and disposal of collected material
·
providing Household Waste and Recycling Sites (HWRSs) for
residents
·
providing Waste Transfer Stations (WTSs) for WCAs
·
Disposing of waste from coastal pollution incidents
·
Management and aftercare of closed landfill sites
Environment Act and introduction
of food waste collections
1.6.
The 2019 Resources and Waste Strategy for England proposed that all
WCAs who did not already offer a weekly food waste collection,
should have one in place by 2023.
1.7.
Government then introduced the Environment Act in 2021, with the
Act aiming to improve air and water quality, halt the decline of
species, improve our natural environment, and makes several big
changes to how we manage our waste and recycling, including
collecting food waste separately every week.
1.8.
The other main changes to waste and recycling that come with the
Environment Act are –
·
Introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme for plastic and metal
drinks containers (this will not be operated by local
authorities)
·
Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (this will mean
packaging producers will pay for their waste)
·
Consistency of collections including –
1.8.1
Standardisation of
recycling collected (a common set of materials that have to be
recycled)
1.8.2 Potential
cap or removal of charges for garden waste (to be confirmed,
although we understand this is likely to be a cap on charges rather
than removal of charges)
1.9.
Lewes District Council is the only authority in East Sussex that
currently collects food waste. Historically, increased costs
associated with the additional vehicles, staff and bins has
prevented our other authorities from introducing food waste
collections.
1.10.
For several years Government has been consulting on the detail of
food waste collections, and several other changes to how waste and
recycling is managed. The consultation process has been long and
lots of detail on changes to how we work is still to be confirmed.
Government is expected to provide feedback soon on consultation
responses, clarifications on potential funding, and final details
of changes to be made to waste services. This information is
expected in early 2023. When these details are known, authorities
will be able to plan and adapt or roll out new services.
1.11.
Commencement regulations then will bring the requirement for weekly
food waste collections into force. Whilst not officially set by
Government, a revised start date for weekly food waste collections
is likely to be March 2025, although it will be challenging for
many authorities to plan and roll out new collection services by
this date.
1.12.
In December 2022, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra) wrote to and met with East Sussex County Council
and several other disposal authorities with long-term waste
contracts as it is felt these may present challenges that prevent
the introduction of weekly separate food waste collections to
households. In specific circumstances, if Ministers decide it is
appropriate, Defra will include specific transitional arrangements
for named WCAs in the commencement regulations, setting out when
they will need to introduce weekly food waste collections.
1.13.
East Sussex County Council (ESCC) officers consulted with
colleagues in Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) and all five
district and borough councils and confirmed to Defra that the
contract with Veolia does not prevent the weekly collection of food
waste from going ahead or pose significant challenges that would
result in food waste collections having to be delayed. During these
meetings, Defra verbally informed East Sussex officers that no
funding will be available for any changes required to manage
separate food waste collections. Defra stated that the legal
requirement to collect food waste lies with the WCAs and they will
be able to access funding for initial capital investment (such as
vehicles and additional bins) and potentially, ongoing revenue
costs (such as additional staffing costs). Defra expects ESCC and
other disposal authorities to make a net saving as food waste will
be composted instead of being sent for energy recovery, where the
cost of composting is cheaper than energy recovery.
1.14.
This Council’s contract with Veolia runs until 2033 and
includes infrastructure to compost food waste at the In-Vessel
Composting (IVC) facility at Woodlands, in Whitesmith. Woodlands
IVC currently takes Lewes District Council’s food waste and
all of the garden waste generated by East Sussex and Brighton and
Hove
residents.
2 Supporting
Information
2.
What will happen to food waste in
East Sussex?
2.1.
Woodlands IVC can compost around 60,000 tonnes of food and green
waste every year. Veolia considers the ideal ratio for the facility
is around 70% green waste and 30% food waste.
2.2.
The facility works on a 6-week process with the incoming material
shredded and batches put into one of 8 tunnels. The composting
process is started by the naturally occurring micro-organisms
already in the waste. These break down the material, releasing the
nutrients and in doing so increase the temperature of the material
to the 60-70ºC needed to kill pathogens and weed seeds. Oxygen
levels, moisture content and temperature are carefully monitored
and controlled during this stage to ensure the material is fully
sanitised.
2.3.
The next part of the process is maturation. The material is
transferred from the tunnels to the maturation hall until the
organic material has fully composted.
2.4.
The compost is finally screened into two grades: 10mm is used for
Pro Grow for gardens and 20mm is used by farmers.
2.5.
The material produced by the facility is a high-quality compost, is
PAS 100 certified, and Veolia sell it as Pro Grow at our HWRSs.
They also supply local farmers who collect the compost produced by
the facility.
2.6.
The application of compost improves soil health and soil drainage,
creating healthier, more resilient environments for crops to
thrive, as well as capturing carbon in the soil. Digestate from
anaerobic digestion, another form of food waste treatment, produces
a fertilizer which has a more limited application potential due to
the levels of nitrogen. It can only be used on certain types of
land, and at particular times during the agricultural year.
2.7.
The recycling of organic waste through the IVC serves as an
example of how the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract with
Veolia is delivering local, circular solutions for resident’s
waste. Green waste and food waste is collected from households and
then returned, after composting, to East Sussex’s gardens and
fields as a high-quality soil improver.
How much food waste is
there?
2.8.
The results from a 2017 waste composition study showed that 36.9%
of the black bag waste across East Sussex was found to be food
waste. A further study is planned for the first half of 2023 to
provide more up to date data.
2.9.
Food waste services capture a small proportion of total food waste,
and modelling by the waste team suggests that total ranges from
16,000 tonnes per year to 18,000 tonnes per year.
2.10.
Whilst the potential to recycle 16,000 to 18,000 tonnes of food is
a good thing given the cost to the resident of wasted food in the
household, it would be even better to reduce food waste by
preventing or minimising it. This provides not only savings for
residents, but also savings to the taxpayer from the reduced costs
of managing waste.
2.11.
It is possible that food waste tonnages will eventually exceed the
capacity of Woodlands IVC, and it is estimated that excess food
waste generated by residents of East Sussex and Brighton and Hove
might be up to 5,000 tonnes per year. East Sussex County Council
will be working with Veolia and other partners to secure
alternative treatment
facilities.
Implications of food waste
collection services for East Sussex County Council
2.12.
East Sussex County Council is working with Veolia to introduce food
waste delivery points at some of the contract Waste Transfer
Stations (WTSs). The table below shows where each of our
districts and boroughs (and Brighton & Hove) are anticipated to
deliver and tip their food waste.
|
Food waste delivery
point
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Delivering
authority
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Woodlands IVC,
Whitesmith, Lewes, BN8 6JB
|
·
Wealden DC
·
Eastbourne BC
·
Lewes DC
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Pebsham TS,
Freshfields, Bexhill on Sea, TN40 2SA
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·
Hastings BC
·
Rother DC
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Hollingdean TS,
Upper Hollingdean Road, BN1 7BB
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·
Brighton & Hove City Council
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2.13.
Some changes to the PFI contract will be required to enable food
waste to be received at Hollingdean WTS and Pebsham WTS and for
haulage arrangements from those sites to Woodlands IVC.
2.14.
Composting food waste at Woodlands IVC is cheaper than taking it to
the Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility (ERF). Moving food out of the
black bin and composting it should provide some savings.
2.15.
However, there are some additional costs too. Several facilities
need to be adapted to receive food waste deliveries. The food waste
will need to be managed and transported separately to Woodlands
IVC. Specialised sealed containers will be required and extra
vehicles to transport them, may be required. There may be other
unforeseen costs that materialise as the service changes are being
made.
2.16.
As a new piece of legislation, the Environment Act will have cost
implications on our waste disposal contract, although at this time
these costs are uncertain. Certainly we would expect some
additional costs to be picked up by the contractor and others by
the contracting authority. We will be able to proceed with more
detailed commercial negotiations once we receive feedback and
clarification from the Government on the changes, and input from
our colleagues in legal services.
2.17.
It is possible that following all of the changes there will be a
small net saving for East Sussex County Council, but it is too
early to predict this with certainty. Food waste is one of several
significant changes required by the Environment Act and it is
difficult at this point to model the combined impact of all changes
on the waste disposal budget.
2.18.
Any modifications to the PFI contract will be subject to the
Council’s normal governance arrangements.
2.19.
Whilst food waste can already be accepted at Woodlands IVC, it is
anticipated that the WTSs will be ready to accept separated food
waste by mid-2025. Due to the unforeseen delays in Government
consultation feedback and clarifications, and the knock-on effect
on governance and procurement cycles, district and borough councils
may not be able to deliver new food collection services before
mid-2025.
3 Conclusion
and Reasons for Recommendations
3.
3.1.
East Sussex County Council is in a good position by already having
Woodlands IVC for the composting of food waste. Lewes District
Council’s food waste is already composted at Woodlands
IVC.
3.2.
The Council’s Waste team is awaiting final details and
clarifications on arrangements from Government and will continue to
negotiate with Veolia on changes necessary to prepare for the
introduction of food waste collections across the county.
3.3.
The Waste team will continue to work with district and borough
councils to provide the necessary service changes at our
facilities, to cater for weekly food waste collections.
3.4
The Place Scrutiny Committee is recommended to note the update
report and consider whether it wishes to carry out any further
scrutiny work on this topic, such as receiving further update
reports at future meetings.
Director of Communities, Economy
and Transport
Contact Officer:
Justin Foster, Waste Team Manager
Tel. No. 01273 335805
Email: justin.foster@eastsussex.gov.uk
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