Issue - meetings

Resolved:

To adopt Cyngor Gwynedd's Waste and Recycling Strategy 2025–2030 as the strategic document setting out the Council's direction, vision and priorities for waste and recycling over the next five years.

To approve the principle of using Extended Producer Responsibility Funding (EPR) as the main source of funding to support and enable the implementation of the Strategy's priorities, including plans to increase recycling, improve services, maintain existing infrastructure and invest in future infrastructure.

To approve the strategic direction for the use of EPR funding to:

• manage the service's direct financial risks by creating "just in case" financial provision, such as dealing with overspending on service delivery where there is no alternative approach, reducing the risk of penalties for failing to meet recycling targets and preparing for Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) costs.

· provide a sound financial basis for the implementation of the projects set out in the Strategy, including the steps to reach the 70% recycling target and the short-term investments needed for upgrades.

· establish a Co-Funding Fund to support significant development at future sites in Caernarfon and Harlech.

Note that further decisions would be required on some individual operational elements of the Strategy and the use of the EPR funding, but that adopting the Strategy and approving the EPR use direction provided a policy framework and the financial foundation to move forward with the work programme.

Note that the Council would need to consider all possible sources of funding when setting the revenue budget for 2027/28 and subsequent years and that the possibility of having to revisit the above decisions could not be ruled out if an element of the EPR funding needed to be diverted in order to be able to set an equal budget.

The report was submitted by Cllr Craig ab Iago.

DECISION

Resolved:

To adopt Cyngor Gwynedd's Waste and Recycling Strategy 2025–2030 as the strategic document setting out the Council's direction, vision and priorities for waste and recycling over the next five years.

To approve the principle of using Extended Producer Responsibility Funding (EPR) as the main source of funding to support and enable the implementation of the Strategy's priorities, including plans to increase recycling, improve services, maintain existing infrastructure and invest in future infrastructure.

To approve the strategic direction for the use of EPR funding to:

· manage the service's direct financial risks by creating "just in case" financial provision, such as dealing with overspending on service delivery where there is no alternative approach, reducing the risk of penalties for failing to meet recycling targets and preparing for Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) costs.

· provide a sound financial basis for the implementation of the schemes set out in the Strategy, including the steps to reach the 70% recycling target and the short-term investments needed for upgrades.

· establish a Co-funding Fund to support significant development at future sites in Caernarfon and Harlech.

To note that further decisions will be required on some individual operational elements of the Strategy and the use of the EPR funding, but that adopting the Strategy and approving the EPR use direction provided a policy framework and the financial foundation to move forward with the work programme.

To note that the Council will need to consider all possible sources of funding when setting the revenue budget for 2027/28 and subsequent years and that the possibility of having to revisit the above decisions cannot be ruled out if an element of the EPR funding needs to be diverted in order to be able to set a balanced budget.

DISCUSSION

It was highlighted that this was the first Waste Strategy that the Council had developed, and added that it set a clear direction for the Council's handling of the topic of waste.

Reference was made to the Welsh Government's target of recycling 70% of the County's waste, and the Cabinet Member stated that he would like to see the County recycle 100% of its waste as well as trying to reduce the amount of waste generated here. Although the Council had no control over the amount of waste generated in the County, it was stated that much more needed to be done than just recycling. The need to strengthen our circular economy, see waste as a resource and also focus on the re-use element was suggested.

Some of those reasons were put forward behind attempting to introduce such a Strategy in the County, noting that the service faced a variety of challenges. Reference was made to the statutory target to recycle 70% of the County's waste, explaining that Gwynedd was not currently meeting this target. The risk of receiving a significant financial penalty was then mentioned if the Council did not meet this target, adding that there was a risk of carbon-related  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8