Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Email: committees@midsussex.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

To note Substitutes in Accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4 -Substitutes at Meetings of Committees etc.

Minutes:

Councillor Webb substituted for Councillor Smith; Councillor Dabell substituted Councillor Boutrup.

 

2.

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Boutrup, Smith and Hussain.

 

3.

To receive Declarations of Interests from Members in respect of any matter on the Agenda.

Minutes:

No declarations were received.

 

4.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 November 2019 pdf icon PDF 219 KB

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 November 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

5.

To consider any items that the Chairman agrees to take as urgent business.

Minutes:

The Chairman had no urgent business.

 

6.

Food Waste and Absorbent Hygiene Products - Collection Trial pdf icon PDF 546 KB

Minutes:

Rob Anderton, Divisional Leader for Commercial Services and Contracts, introduced the report which set out proposals to work in partnership with WSCC to trial a weekly food waste and absorbent hygiene product collection alongside a restructured residual waste collection frequency across approximately 3,000 properties in Mid Sussex.

 

A Member enquired whether bin liners will be provided to help with the disposal of food waste.

 

The Divisional Leader for Commercial Services and Contracts confirmed that bin liners will not be provided however residents are welcome to use their own compostable bin liners or newspaper.

 

The Member then sought clarifications on the implications for food waste being left in the bins and then attracting insects.

 

The Divisional Leader for Commercial Services and Contracts stated that the food waste bins will be collected weekly, where it is currently collected on a fortnightly basis as part of the residual waste, and recommended cleaning the bins regularly during the summer period as many people already do with their residual waste bin.

 

A Member noted that a number of households travel to the household waste and recycling sites when their landfill bins are full and enquired whether that contributes to the household collection statistics. He added that the Council should avoid pushing people to use household waste and recycling sites.

 

Judy Holmes, Assistant Chief Executive, explained that the waste collected at the household waste and recycling sites does not contribute to the Mid Sussex household collection statistics. She added that the Council will need to engage with residents in the trial areas with the hope of encouraging them to become champions for the food waste collection; it was noted that the operational aspects of running the service should not be an issue but it will be of great importance to communicate how the service will operate to residents in the trial area.

 

A Member referenced Paragraph 12 of the report and questioned how the assumptions on the Modelling Exercise were arrived at. She also sought clarification as to why the food waste is being transported to Basingstoke when there is an anaerobic digester near Warnham that could deal with the waste.

 

Jo Reid, Business Unit Leader for Waste, Landscapes and Leisure explained that evidence suggests that when residents engage with recycling service changes, residents become more aware of the other services available (such as dry recycling and garden waste) and recycle more as a result.

 

The Divisional Leader for Commercial Services and Contracts stated that the anaerobic digester at Warnham is used to manage residual waste and the food waste contained within. The organic matter extracted from that waste has other material within it which reduces the quality of material produced; it cannot therefore be used for the same range of uses and is not counted as recycling. He added that the County Council has a strong desire to have a facility within the County and sites are currently being explored.

 

A Member sought clarification as to whether tea bags can be recycled in the food  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Scrutiny Committee for Community, Customer Services and Service Delivery Work Programme 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 261 KB

Minutes:

Tom Clark, Head of Regulatory Services, introduced the Work Programme which presented the scheduled businesses for the forthcoming two meetings.

 

A Member enquired when a review of all Mid Sussex’s public toilets will be carried out.

 

The Chairman noted that a review of the toilets had not currently been agreed.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee noted the Committee’s Work Programme as set out at paragraph 5 of this report.

 

8.

Questions pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 10.2 due notice of which has been given.

Minutes:

No questions were received.