Issue - meetings

To report to the Scrutiny Committee on the performance of the Environment Department.

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

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

During the debate, the following observations were made by the Members: -

Waste and Recycling

Concern was expressed that there was a financial risk to the Council if the Department fails to meet the Welsh Government's target of 70% to recycle all waste in the County. In response to the comments, the Assistant Head of Waste and Recycling confirmed that work is being done to commit to meeting this target, with the Council achieving a recycling rate of 66.6% during 2025-26 to date. It was elaborated that the Council was working with ADRA housing association to promote the benefits of recycling, as they were responsible for 7500 dwellings in the County which would have a major impact on the recycling rate. Similarly, it was pointed out that work is being done to ensure that pupils in schools in Gwynedd receive lessons on the importance of recycling and that leaflets were being prepared for distribution to every house in the County as a reminder of how to recycle correctly. It was recognised that there are only 4 members of staff in the team who teach? in relation to recycling, it was ensured that every effort was made to strive to meet the recycling target and to ensure that any financial penalty for failing to meet the target was as small as possible.

In response to a further query as to whether the Department was confident that Gwynedd could recycle 70% of its waste, the Department's Assistant Head of Waste and Recycling confirmed that they were confident the target would be met. It was detailed that a public engagement exercise on the Waste and Recycling Strategy was currently underway and that the responses received to date had been very encouraging. It was elaborated that there had been over 700 responses to the consultation to date and that 80% of those respondents consider recycling to be an important action and agree with the need to reduce waste. They were reminded that the duty to recycle is a matter for everyone in Gwynedd and huge pressure was being placed within the department to train officers and to ensure that the act of recycling correctly is promoted with the public to ensure that everyone recycles as much as possible. It was explained that many things that can be recycled continue to be included in the residual waste bins and that work is being done to educate the public that these items can be recycled. It was ensured that delivering these actions would ensure that the Council would recycle 70% of its waste in line with the Welsh Government's target.

In response to an enquiry as to whether the Department had been too late in developing the Waste and Recycling Strategy, the Head of Department disagreed stating that the service had only been under the Department's management for 3 years and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6