NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL

WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND

ACTION PLAN

APRIL 2005
CONTENTS

Page

User Guide

/

1

Executive Summary
/
2

Part One – The Challenge

/

4

  1. Introduction
/ 5
  1. Legislation and Guidance
/ 8
  1. The Current Situation
/ 10
Part Two – Meeting the Challenge
/
14
  1. Introduction
/ 15
  1. Reducing the scale of the challenge – Waste minimisation, education and partnership
/ 15
  1. Improving services & facilities
/ 19
  1. Planning for the long term
/ 24
  1. Working towards zero waste
/ 27
  1. Financing the Strategy
/ 28
  1. Risk Analysis
/ 29
  1. Conclusions & required actions
/ 30
Appendices
Appendix 1 - Waste Action Plan
/
32
Appendix 2 - LATS Targets / 35
Appendix 3 - Technical Data / 38
Appendix 4 - Risk Log / 43
Appendix 5 - Waste Management Services / 47
Glossary
/
51

User Guide

The strategy preceded by an Executive Summary that picks out the key issues.

The strategy is in two parts

Part 1 sets out the challenge facing the City in managing the waste it produces.

  • Section 1 introduces the strategy, what it seeks to achieve and how it will link with other strategies.
  • Section 2 describes the background to this strategy and the potential impact of impending legislation on waste management practice
  • Section 3 sets out the current position in Newcastle in terms of front line waste collection and management services, contracts and performance and raises questions which will answered in Part 2.

Part 2 sets out how this challenge will be met and has four sections

  • Section 4 summaries how this will be done.
  • Section 5 looks at cutting the amount of waste that needs to be dealt with and increasing opportunities to get communities involved.
  • Section 6 looks at how waste collection and management services and facilities can be improved
  • Section 7 sets out how the City will plan for meeting future waste management needs.
  • Section 8 looks at the aspiration of achieving Zero Waste and how this could support the local economy
  • Section 9 looks at the costs of implementing the strategy and how it can be financed.
  • Section 10 refers to the risk analysis of the strategy.
  • Section 11 is the conclusion and summary of required actions.

Sections in Part 2 have targets setting out the actions that will deliver the Strategy and when they will be achieved. These form the Action Plan in Appendix 1.

There are other appendices with detailed information supporting the strategy.

Words or phrases that are in bold in the text are defined in the glossary at the end of the document.

Executive Summary

Introduction

This Waste Management Strategy sets out in detail the short, medium and long-term challenges facing the authority in how it collects and manages the City’s municipal waste. It identifies key targets to meet these challenges which form the Action Plan.

Vision

The vision of the City’s waste management strategy is to achieve zero waste by treating waste as a resource and not a problem.

We will do this by improving how waste is collected and dealt with and ensure that this balances the environmental benefits, social gain and financial costs to the community.

Objectives

The Strategy has 3 key objectives:

  • to seek to reverse the trend in waste growth;
  • to meet the Council’s commitment of cutting landfill to 50% by 2006/07 by expanding recycling and composting activities; and
  • to meet and exceed statutory Government or EC targets for recycling and diversion from landfill.

We aim to achieve these objectives by:

  • the education and engagement of residents and communities in Newcastle so that they can play an active part in managing the waste that they produce and in the planning and delivering of waste management services;
  • recycling and composting as much as is practicable and the development of an improved and integrated recycling and refuse collection service;
  • working with partners to plan and deliver facilities that recover value from the waste left over and to cut out landfill as far as possible; and
  • looking at ways to exploit the potential of waste to create jobs and money for the local economy

Drivers for change

There are Government and EU national targets for reducing the amount of waste we dispose of via landfill and increasing the amount we recycle. Short term Government targets (BVPIs) up to 2005/2006 will be met and exceeded in Newcastle by improving participation in the home recycling service, redeveloping recycling centres and composting waste from the wheelie bin thatis left over. Pilots will be introduced to ascertain the optimum approach for all of these improvements.

However, these improvements will not be enough to meet further Government and EU targets to cut the amount of waste disposed of in landfill. From 2010 to 2020 the Council could face significant LATS penalties if more is not done. This will mean looking at what new technologies we can use in Newcastle to replace landfill after we have recycled as much as possible. Services may have to change and new facilities built in order to meet these landfill targets.

Financial implications

Current national projections suggest that the cost of waste management to councils will approximately double within the next 10 years. In addition costs will also increase because we will need to:

  • pay for handling any increases in waste produced;
  • trial and possibly introduce changes to recycling collections;
  • develop new waste treatment and recycling facilities;
  • pay higher costs for waste treatments due to higher standards of operation;
  • invest in public education and awareness programmes.

The importance of improved waste management at both a local and national level is such that further investment will be unavoidable. The level of this investment and other costs will be identified during the strategic options appraisal and will form part of the evaluation process.

Recommendations

Identified recommended actions from this WMS include:

Increased Waste minimisation through greater awareness and participation

  • Increased activity to support greater awareness within communities of need to minimise and/or recycle
  • More co-operation and partnership with commercial and community and voluntary sector to increase opportunities to minimise waste and/or recycle

Improved services and facilities;

  • Pilot of weekly home recycling
  • Pilot the collection of additional items in the home recycling scheme
  • Pilot green waste collection
  • Review of bulky waste collection scheme
  • Pilot the collection of additional items via the black box scheme
  • Improving recycling centres

Planning for the long term

  • Assessment of the optimum methods of dealing with residual waste
  • Campaign for greater Government support for council activity to achieve zero waste

PART 1

THE CHALLENGE

NewcastleCity Council Waste Management Strategy And Action Plan April 2005 1

1. Introduction

The purpose of the Waste Management Strategy (MWS)is to direct the way that Newcastle upon Tyne City Council (the City Council) manages its waste for the next twenty years.

The challenge in 2005 is to find a range of solutions that deal with waste that are

  • Environmentally sound
  • Meet European and National legislative requirements
  • Are affordable for the citizens of Newcastle

This document updates the Waste Management Strategy agreed in 2003.

1.1 Context

The City Council has a statutory responsibility to both collect and manage the following types of waste:

  • Waste from homes (e.g. wheelie bins, home recycling, bulky items)
  • Waste from the streets (e.g. litter, fly tipping)
  • Waste from businesses if asked to do it
  • Waste the Council creates (e.g. offices, building work)

This represents approximately 180,000 tonnes per annum, of which 128,000 tonnes is household waste.

The types of waste regulated by the Environment Agency are called "controlled waste." This includes household, industrial and commercial waste. Other waste called "non-controlled waste" (e.g. agriculture, mines and quarries) are not currently regulated in the same way. National statistics indicate that Municipal waste represents approximately 17% of the controlled waste total.

This strategy deals with how the Council will deal with Municipal Waste, but it is intended that this will also provide a lead to the management of waste in other sectors.

Nationally, the amount of municipal waste collected has been growing at 3% per annum. In contrast, Newcastle has experienced relatively static levels of Municipal Waste in recent years, as shown in Table 1. Household waste in the City fell by 2% in the last three years, but this reduction was offset by an increase in other Council waste, particularly from Street Cleansing. This is due to improvements in service delivering, leading to a higher level of litter and other waste being collected. This amount rose from 5,500 tonnes in 2000/1 to 11,100 tonnes in 2003/04.

This picture has changed in the current year with Municipal Waste in Newcastle now rising again at approximately 4%. The reasons for this are not clear, and further research and analysis are required on this.

1.2 Approach

The vision of the City’s waste management strategy is to achieve zero waste by treating waste as a resource and not a problem.

The strategy is based on the following objectives:

  • to seek to reverse the trend in waste growth;
  • to meet the Council’s commitment of cutting landfill to 50% by 2006/07 by expanding recycling and composting activities; and
  • to meet and exceed statutory Government or EC targets for recycling and diversion from landfill.

This strategy has been created with the view of Zero Waste as a long-term goal. It is important that the short and medium term elements of this strategy contribute to the goal, however, achievement of Zero Waste will depend of a far wider range of measures.

The contribution of this strategy will include:

  • the education and engagement of residents and communities in Newcastle so that they can play an active part in managing the waste that they produce and in the planning and delivering of waste management services
  • maximising the potential of home collection of recyclables and organic waste building on this engagement of residents;
  • planning and delivering facilities that recover value from the waste left over and to cut out landfill as far as possible
  • looking at ways to exploit the potential of waste to create jobs and money for the local economy

Table 1 – Municipal Waste in Newcastle 2001-2004

2001-02 / 2002-03 / 2003-04 / 2004-05
9 months
Type / Tonnes
Household / 130,367 / 133,649 / 127,719 / 103,226
Commercial / 33,586 / 27,332 / 31,969 / 26,302
Other Council / 15,796 / 17,914 / 20,165 / 12,082
Total Municipal Waste / 179,749 / 178,895 / 179,853 / 141,610

1.3 Links to Other Strategies

Regional

The Regional Assembly on sustainability issues has developed its sustainable development approach in line with the Integrated Regional Framework (IRF). This was produced by Sustaine, the Sustainability Roundtable for the North East, of which Newcastle is a partner

The Newcastle Plan

The Plan describes how Newcastle City Council and its partners in the City will work together to achieve the social, economic and environmental regeneration of the City up to 2010. The strategic aim of the environment theme of the Newcastle Plan is “an environment that is clean, green, safe, healthy, protected and sustainable”.

The main operational objective of the plan is to “reduce the amount of the earth’s resources the city uses, increase recycling and resource recovery rates and decrease Newcastle's contribution to global warming”.

Performance against this objective is measured by how much we reduce the amount of household waste produced and increase recycling of dry materials and compost, with a milestone target of increasing recycling of household waste to 18% by 2006.

Council

The City has new corporate objectives, including “building and supporting safe and clean neighbourhoods and communities whilst managing the environment effectively and sustainably.”

  • Supporting this corporate aim, the Environment, Sustainability and Transport portfolio plans for 2005/06 has the following strategic aim, “To significantly reduce waste and increase recycling rates as a first step of a long term zero waste strategy

Service

The responsibility for leading on waste management services and the WMS for the City lie with the Street Services Division of the Council’s Neighbourhood Services Directorate. The work of the Division is directed by an annual Service Plan which reflects this role. It states that Street Services will

“ensure the delivery of modern, streamlined and cohesive services designed to create cleaner, greener, safer and attractive streets and open spaces in accordance with the Council’s overall ambition for its environment. It is also tasked with ensuring that a waste management strategy exists which recognises international, European and national developments and expectations in this area.”

2. Legislation and Guidance

2.1 Legislative Structure

Waste has become a key global issue. Waste management practice at our local level is shaped by a hierarchy from a global level to local level with the most influential parts of this hierarchy at European and National level.

The key themes in EU and UK waste policy and law are:

  • Cutting landfill
  • Setting steadily increasing recycling and composting targets
  • Recycling more materials
  • Controlling composting

The general responsibilities of the Council for waste collection and disposal are set down in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA). The City Council is the statutory Waste Collection Authority (WCA) and Waste Disposal Authority (WDA) for Newcastle under this law.

Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill is the crux of EU and UK waste policy and this will dominate UK waste management strategy and practice for the foreseeable future.

The EC Landfill Directive requires biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) to be progressively diverted from landfill. The key targets are to reduce BMW sent to landfill to:

  • 75% of that produced in 1995 by 2010;
  • 50% by 2013; and
  • 35% by 2020.

To reinforce these targets, the EU has imposed a penalty regime on national governments. The UK Government is relying on local authorities to meet these targets through the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) enforced under the Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003.

Local landfill allowances have been set so as to achieve national compliance with the EU targets. Each WDA has an annually decreasing target for how much waste it can send to landfill. Under this, the Council would be fined at a rate of £150 per tonne over its landfill.

2.2 Recycling and Composting Targets

Part of the nationally agreed solution to meeting the EU Landfill Directive is to increase recycling and composting. The Government has set the following targets for the recycling of household waste

  • 25% by 2005;
  • 30% by 2010
  • 33% by 2015.

The Government has set local Statutory Performance targets to meet the national commitment. Newcastle’s targets are:

  • 10% of household waste to be recycled or composted in 2003/04
  • 18% of household waste to be recycled or composted in 2005/06

It is likely that the Government will set future, higher targets for recycling and composting.

In addition to these targets, the Government has also agreed as part of the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003, that by 2010 all households in England and Wales must have the opportunity to recycle at least two different materials. Newcastle is well on the way to achieving this with 87% of homes already covered by the black box home recycling service.

2.3 Recycling Different Materials

Further legislation covers the following materials

  • Fridges through the Ozone Depleting Substances Regulations;
  • Cars through the End of Life Vehicles Directive; and
  • Electric goods through the Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE).

Since January 2002 fridges and freezers have to be recycled in specialist facilities that safely remove substances that can harm the ozone layer. The Council collects fridges and freezer separately to other bulky items. Similarly potentially harmful substances like battery acid and oil have to be removed before recycling the abandoned vehicles that the Council removes. The Government have delayed proposals obliging the manufactures of electrical equipment to recycle their products. This may involve the Council providing facilities for the public to segregate electrical items.

2.4 Controlling Composting

The EU is currently considering a Biowaste Directive that has two main themes:

  • compulsory separate collection of green waste from homes; and
  • the safe processing and use of this material as compost.

The Foot & Mouth outbreak in 2002 was traced to contaminated food waste. The Government reacted with the Animal By-Products Regulations which requires that food waste that is composted in covered and controlled facilities to kill off any hazardous organisms.

3. The Current Situation

3.1 Introduction

The two elements of waste management comprise collection and management of the waste once collected. These reflect the different statutory responsibilities the Council has as WCA and WDA.

3.2 Services and Facilities

The waste collection services provided by the Council are summarised in Table 2, below. Appendix 3a gives details of the total municipal waste collected in 2003/4. Appendix 3f is a flow diagram that shows the sources and destinations of municipal waste in 2003/4.

Table 2 –Waste Services and Facilities

Service Area / Service / Scale of Service
Collections / Refuse collection via wheelie bins / c. 121,000 homes
Bulky Waste / c. 122,000 collections p.a.
Home Recycling / c. 100,000 homes served
Communal Recycling / 21 sites
Abandoned Cars / c. 750 removed p.a.
Street Cleansing / c. 8,500 tonnes p.a.
Fly Tipping / c. 3,750 tonnes p.a.
Trade Waste / c. 3,000 customers
Facilities / Recycling Centres / c. 18,000 tonnes p.a.
Recycling Points / c. 4,500 tonnes p.a.
Home Composting / c. 10,000 compost bins distributed

3.3 Waste Management Contracts

The City Council has a number of contracts relating to waste management. These deal with the disposal of waste remaining after recycling by residents. The first, which is most important, is a 20-year contract with SITA, which started in 2000. This contract has 3 distinct phases

  • Phase 1 – Waste is disposed of via landfill
  • Phase 2 – Waste is disposed of via a combination of landfill and Mechanical Biologic Treatment (MBT) and in-vessel composting
  • Phase 3 – An option to treat the remaining residual waste

Phase 1 has been operating since the contract started in 2000. Waste collected by the Council is taken by our vehicles to transfer stations at Benwell and Byker before being transported to landfill sites by SITA. Byker is the major facility handling 114,000 tonnes of the total 128,000 tonnes dealt with through the contract in 2003/04. There are no landfill sites in Newcastle. Landfill sites used by SITA are Seghill in Northumberland and Burnhills, Gateshead.