Issue - meetings

To receive an update on the work programme and the matters requiring attention in the Waste and Recycling services.

To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

The report was submitted by the Cabinet Member for the Environment, the Head of Environment Department and the Assistant Head.

The members were reminded that this service had transferred from the Highways, Engineering and YGC Department back in October 2022 and that major changes had been implemented to improve the running of the service within the Environment Department. It was acknowledged that several challenges had arisen during the transfer period, which had led to difficulties with collection on routes, but they believed that the service had now stabilised.

They referred to the Welsh Government targets of ensuring that Local Authorities recycled 70% of all waste by March 2025. They emphasised that this was an incredibly challenging target and that work was being carried out to try to reach this target. They explained that the Council was managing to reach the Government's current target of recycling 64% of waste and were confident that the Department's frameworks would lead to increasing this percentage. They highlighted the fact that discussions with the Welsh Government had suggested that Local Authorities could be penalised financially if they failed to reach the 70% target.

It was explained that two factors had led to overspending within the service recently. It was detailed that these included the workforce sickness levels as well as overtime. They explained that a combination of short-term and long-term sickness had led to this, and they ensured that the service worked with the Byw'n Iach company to promote employees' well-being. The workforce was thanked for their positive response to the call for change in the way of working to ensure that services were delivered within the budget. All service staff were also thanked for their positive attitude and their readiness to undertake work to a high standard for the benefit of the County's residents.

During the discussion, the following observations were noted:- 

In response to concerns surrounding the fines by the Welsh Government should we fail to recycle 70% of waste, the Assistant Head of Department assured the members that no Local Authority had been fined to date, despite some having failed to reach the targets. They stressed that no definite confirmation of this fine had been announced and believed that the Government would be looking at Local Authorities' targets over the years to see whether an effort had been made to reach the requested targets. It was pointed out that Gwynedd had consistently reached the Government's targets over the years and worked closely with officers, therefore they did not anticipate that Gwynedd would be fined if it failed to hit the 70% recycling target.

A member enquired about the Department's plans to charge for disposing of some waste items such as tyres, rubble and asbestos and whether this was likely to lead to more instances of fly-tipping. In response, the Assistant Head explained that around 80 tonnes of tyres reached the recycling centres annually, which costs around £20,000 to process. He emphasised that there were procedures in place within the Highways, Municipal and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7