Verbal update from Yvonne Murray (Director of Housing, Resident Engagement & Allocations) & Danielle Emery (Waste and Recycling Manager).
Minutes:
The Chair introduced the item and invited the Waste and Recycling Manager to provide the Panel with a verbal update regarding waste management and fly tipping.
The Waste and Recycling Manager stated that Veolia had struggled to retain HGV drivers over the past year. This was part of a national shortage in which the drivers were attracted by other companies who offered higher salaries.
The Waste and Recycling Manager informed the panel that Veolia had prioritised refuse collection over the collection of recycling as the recycling was clean and dry, which meant that it could be left for a longer period without collection than waste. Veolia had focused on communal bin stores and had provided an additional round of communal collections, this had been in place since October 2021. In order to provide the additional service, the council had used streets staff to help with the collections as loaders and drivers which has led to a slight deterioration of the condition of the streets.
The Waste and Recycling Manager explained that if a round of collections could not be completed, the collection would be left until the weekend with the refuse collection prioritised over the recycling. The Waste and Recycling Manager also stated that Veolia were upskilling some of their loading staff into drivers to address the driver shortage.
In response to a question from the chair the Waste and Recycling Manager stated that the communications team had been tweeting about the issues regarding waste collection and Veolia had been trying to raise awareness of the driver shortages in order to get people interested in the industry.
In response to a question form a resident the Waste and Recycling Manager informed the Panel that there were 22 service performance indicators that Veolia were required to meet on a quarterly basis. If these service performance indicators were not met then Veolia would be financially penalised for failing to meet those targets however targets did not relate to their number of drivers.
A resident informed the Panel that they raised an issue at the performance monitoring group regarding bin collection from the 1st floor flats on an estate. The residents on the 1st floor were no longer having rubbish collected directly and had to bring their rubbish downstairs due to health and safety concerns. The resident stated that they had yet to receive a response from the Council and the Waste and Recycling Manager ensured the resident that they would get a response for them.
A resident raised the issue, stating that the crews came to collect the waste needed to ensure that they had FB1 keys as he was aware that they had been to several locations and were unable to empty the bins as they did not have a standard fire brigade key. These keys could be purchased by Veolia so the drivers could have the necessary access to empty the bins.
In response to a question from a resident the Waste and Recycling Manager stated that there was no correlation between the ceasing in the service and increase in fly tipping, this was due to the fact that fly tippers do not investigate how to safely dispose of bulky waste.
In response to a question from a Councillor, the Waste and Recycling Manager explained that contaminated waste could include recycling that was placed within black bags as these bags were considered a contaminant. The waste collection crew would the log that they were unable to collect the waste, this would raise a ticket for the refuse crew to come and empty the bins. The Waste and Recycling Manager also stated that there was one recycling officer in Croydon, which had made communication difficult between the waste department and residents.
In response to a question from the Chair, the Waste and Recycling Manager informed the Panel that the council had done their best to educate residents whilst possessing one Recycling Officer across the borough. The Waste and Recycling Manager stated that the data that she had seen in regards to the amount of fly tipping once the charges for bulky waste collection had been introduced indicated that there had not been an impact.
RESOLVED – That the Panel agreed to note the verbal update.