Issue - meetings

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

34.1     The Waste Team Manager introduced the report and outlined that the Government has provided additional information to councils to clarify the requirements for recycling services as part of the Environment Act. The Act requires all Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs - which are the District and Borough councils in East Sussex) to provide weekly food waste collections separate from other waste by March 2026.

34.2     The report provides further information on communal waste collection facilities and on funding arrangements. A total of £4.3 million in funding has been allocated to the WCAs in East Sussex (excluding Lewes District Council (LDC) who already have a food waste collection service) for capital expenditure on collection vehicles and food waste bins. There may also be some ongoing revenue support for collection authorities. East Sussex County Council (ESCC) as the Waste Disposal Authority will not receive any additional funding from the Government.

34.3     The impact on ESCC of having to dispose of more food waste as a result of the introduction of mandatory food waste collections will mean that some work will need to be carried out on the existing in vessel composting (IVC) facilities at the Woodlands facility in Whitesmith. There will also need to be some modifications to waste transfer stations and vehicles used to transport the waste. The Waste Team is working with Veolia on the likely costs to ESCC from the introduction of food waste collections.

34.4     The Team estimates that ESCC will receive around 16,000 tonnes of food waste a year for disposal, but will not know for sure until collections start. A waste composition analysis is being commissioned to provide an up to date estimate of the amount of food waste in black bag/bin, residual waste. Information from Brighton and Hove City Council in 2022 indicated that around 40% of blag bag waste was food waste. In Surrey, where all councils currently operate a food waste collection service, around 25% of black bag waste was food waste.

34.5     The Woodlands IVC facility currently composts green waste and food waste from Lewes District Council (LDC). The composting process takes six weeks which sterilises the waste and produces a high quality compost which is used by local farmers and sold at the Household Waste Recycling Sites.

34.6     The Committee discussed the report and a summary of the questions and comments raised is given below.

Communications and quantity of food waste

34.7     The Committee commented that it would be good to have a communications campaign on food waste reduction and what residents can recycle. The Committee also asked about the amount of food waste that is likely to be collected and factors that may affect it. The Waste Team Manager outlined that there is usually an increase in the amount of food waste collected when collections are introduced and then volumes tend to go down. This could be due to residents being more aware of food waste which leads to a reduction or residents not participating in collections. The volumes of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34

Verbal update from the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport / Justin Foster, Waste Team Manager.

14.1     The Waste Team Manager provided a verbal update of the implications the Environment Act 2021 and the requirement to collect food waste. Since the last report to the Committee there have been a number of delays by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the announcement of details of the requirements of the food waste collection service.

14.2     It is understood that the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPRP) reforms, which were originally planned for 2024, will be delayed by a further year to October 2025. The decision to delay the EPRP reforms comes alongside the decision to delay consistent household recycling plans (until after EPRP). It is expected that the introduction of mandated food waste collection will also be delayed, as it was previously indicated that guidance would follow EPRP reforms and is likely to be sometime after 2026.

14.3     The recycling consistency programme will now be known as ‘simpler recycling’, and this includes food waste collections. The District and Borough councils who will be responsible for collecting food waste are awaiting details on the timelines and funding. Further details are also awaited on what kerbside recycling materials will have to be collected and what bins will need to be provided. This may have an impact on ESCC as the Waste Disposal Authority (WDA), if there are new materials that have to be recycled. It is also expected that there will be some clarity on charges for garden waste as this varies from council to council.

14.4     In terms of residual ‘black bag’ or ‘black bin’ waste there may be limits to the frequency of collections required. However, food waste will be collected weekly. The Council already has the Woodlands composting facility that processes all the councils garden waste and the food waste from Lewes District Council. The team is waiting for clarity on the changes to food waste collections before going ahead with any changes to this facility and modifications to waste transfer stations needed to deal with additional food waste.

14.5     The Waste Team Manager extended an invitation to all Committee members to visit the various waste disposal facilities, to get an appreciation of the work the Team undertakes.

14.6     The Committee discussed the update and asked a number of questions. A summary of the comments made is given below.

Timescales for the introduction of food waste collections

14.7     It was clarified that the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPRP) reforms have been pushed back to 2025 and the introduction food waste collections will follow some time in 2026. It is not possible to charge for food waste as it is part of residual waste, which has to be collected free of charge. Food waste collections will be weekly.

Garden waste collections

14.8     It was also clarified that the collection of garden waste is discretionary. The Waste Team Manager commented that all the District and Borough councils in East Sussex (who are the waste collection authorities) currently charge for collecting garden waste, but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

31.1     The Waste Team Manager introduced the report and summarised the key points and implications for the Council of the requirement in the Environment Act 2021 for councils to provide a food waste collection service. The report outlines the implications for East Sussex County Council (ESCC) as the waste disposal authority. The District and Borough councils (D&Bs) in East Sussex, who are the waste collection authorities (WCAs), will be responsible for operating the food waste collection service and they will then deliver the food waste to ESCC for composting. The Waste Team Manager outlined that he thought ESCC was in a good position to deal with this new requirement with the waste disposal facilities that are already in place.

31.2     The Committee discussed the report and a summary of the key points and questions raised is given below.

Use of home composting ‘hot bins’

31.3     The Committee commented that providing food waste collections in rural areas could be expensive and asked whether the Council could request that the WCAs offer ‘hot bins’ for food waste composting instead of food collections. The Waste Team Manager explained that it is a legal requirement to collect food waste so it might not be possible to offer home food composting facilities as an alternative. However, he would investigate and come back to the Committee with an answer.

Food waste composition of ‘black bag’ residual waste

31.4     The Committee questioned whether the estimate of around one third of ‘black bag’ (residual) waste being food waste was accurate, as Covid and the cost of living crisis has made people much more aware of reducing wasting food. The Committee also asked if the Waste Team knows the proportion of the different types of food waste to draw a distinction between the ones that could be minimised (e.g. the proportion of surplus food waste/cooked food, versus food preparation waste such as peelings that are less amenable to waste minimisation). The Waste Team Manager responded that percentage of food waste in black bins is quite high, and the Waste Team is planning to carry to carry out a composition study to get an up to date analysis of the composition of ‘black bag’ waste. This will cover the different types of food waste.

Environmental impacts of food waste collection

31.5     The Committee commented that a food waste collection service would add extra vehicle movements and carbon emissions and increase resource use. It asked what the energy and environmental costs would be of the food collection service and whether ESCC would monitor the impact on carbon emissions. The Waste Team Manager explained that not all vehicle movements to deliver food waste for disposal would be to the Woodlands facility at Whitesmith. There will be other hubs to collect food waste in Brighton and Pebsham to bulk up food waste before transporting it for processing at the Woodlands site. He outlined that the carbon emissions for the service will be monitored.

Education and Communication to reduce food waste

31.6     The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31