2016

RSC0746 - Electronic waste transfer notes – 15.01.16

A member authority still sends out hard copies of Waste Transfer Notes to all its 900+ commercial waste customers.   It is concerned that chasing up non-returners, photocopying completed forms and returning these to the customer takes up a lot of officer time and the forms are easy to lose. Therefore they are looking to move towards electronic waste transfer notes (edoc). 

They would be interest to hear from other councils that use the edoc scheme – in particular, has it been well received by customers, and has it been easy to integrate with councils’ existing commercial waste admin systems?

 

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RSC0745 - Pre-sorting of household waste prior to visiting a civic amenity site – 15.01.16

As part of a Waste Commissioning Review a member authority wishes to contact other Authorities on the following questions.

An Authority is considering requiring residents visiting its CA sites to sort any recyclables from their black bags themselves prior to accepting any remaining non- recyclable waste.  This proposal is aimed at persuading residents to sort waste prior to attending the CA site.  The Authority would be grateful to hear from any authorities who have undertaken a similar change, particularly with regards to:

• Communications
• Facilities for sorting offered
• Impact on overall performance on CA sites
• Any impact on fly tipping
• Practical details
• Lessons learnt

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RSC0744 - Creating 'recycling only' civic amenity sites - 11.01.16

As part of a Waste Commissioning Review a member authority wishes to contact other Authorities on the following question.

An Authority is considering converting a number of its CA sites into Recycling Only Sites by removing the residual skips and directing residents to alternatives sites still accepting residual waste.  The Authority would be grateful to hear from any authorities who have undertaken a similar change, particularly with regards to:

• Communications
• Impact on overall performance on CA sites
• Any impact on fly tipping
• Practical details
• Lessons learnt

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RSC0743 - Changing from bag refuse collection system to wheeled bins - 04.01.16

A Member is looking for information on the process of delivering large quantities of wheeled bins and caddies.

The members authority is changing their collection system from a bag system to a wheeled bin system and at the same time they are introducing food waste collections.

 They need to organise the delivery of both wheeled bins and food waste caddies to approximately 50,000 households and are therefore enquiring as to whether any authority has information they would be willing to share on:

• the number of deliveries that can be done in a day,
• how long it takes to undertake deliveries.
• the number of delivery crews used and whether they delivered both bins and caddies or delivered them separately,
• what vehicles which  were used to deliver the bins and /or caddies

They would be interested in receiving any relevant information which would be helpful to help them deliver this new service.

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RSC0730 - Charging for recycling of garden and food waste - 06.01.16

A member authority which is currently looking at service costs and efficiencies is wishing to know from those councils who originally provided a free garden and food collection service and has since had to start charging for this service.

In particular they are keen to know where previously food waste was placed in the same bin as the garden waste, how did they deal with this issue once they started to charge for garden waste, o the understanding local authorities cannot charge for garden waste recycling collections whilst the food element is still included in the bin.

 

RSC0826 - Impact of chargeable green waste service 07.12.16

Description: A member authority is enquiring when Local Authorities have
introduced a chargeable green waste service:
· What (if any) was the increase in residual waste in percentage
terms? (relative to pre-charging)
· Did the number of fly tipping incidents increase? 

 

RSC0825 - Monitoring and recording compliance of refuse vehicles 29.11.16

A member authority is reviewing their in-house
controls/responsibilities and procedures for monitoring & recording
compliance of Refuse Collection vehicles loading to ensure these
vehicles do not overload and follow-up actions/responsibilities.

The Council is interested in what procedures other Councils follow
and in particular who has responsibility for day-to-day compliance
and enforcement.

 

RSC0824 - Charging Developers For Waste Bins 25.11.16

A member authority is interested to discover whether other
authorities expect property developers to meet the cost of providing
bins for new housing developments?

If so do they ensure that developers purchase through the Council
or via its suppliers to ensure that containers are of sufficient quality
and compatible with the waste collection vehicle’s bin lifting
equipment.

They would be interested to know if authorities have any documents
in regards to supplying receptacles to new builds they would be
willing to share.

 

RSC0822 - Inclement weather policy waste services 11.11.16

A member authority is currently reviewing their Inclement Weather
Policy for the Waste and Recycling Collection Service.

They are interested in discovering whether any other authorities
have an Inclement Weather Policy or Procedure for their Waste and
Recycling Collection Service which they would be willing to share.

 

RSC0821 - Litter bins per 1000 head of population 11.11.16

A member authority has been asked to research the number of litter
bins per 1000 population within council’s across England.

They are therefore asking whether members could let them know
the number of litter bins per 1000 head of population in they in their
area.

 

RSC0820 - Storage of dead animals and pets 09.11.16

A member authority is interested in finding out what policies other
local authorities have with regards to the collection and storage of
dead animals (namely pets).

 

RSC0819a - Provision of wheeled bins 09.11.16

A member authority wishes to gather information on charging for
replacement bins at existing properties, and also bins at new build
properties including communal containers, in particular they wish to
know:

Replacement Bins and repairs
· Why would your authority replace
damaged/missing/lost/stolen bins and/or boxes free of charge?
· When do you charge for replacement bins/boxes and how
much do they charge for each receptacle replacement?
· Do you offer free replacements for residents in receipt of
benefits?
· Do you allow residents to pick up any replacement bins from
you directly, if so do you offer a lower price for the replacement
receptacle that is picked up?
· Do you offer free minor damage repairs to bins/boxes? If not,
how much do you charge?
· Do you offer a lower price for a second hand bin/box rather
than a new one?
· Do you allow residents to purchase their own replacement
bins/boxes? If yes, do you find that this happens a lot.
· Do you charge residents at individual New Build properties for
bins/boxes? If yes, do you offer a ‘ deal’ for the full set of
receptacles?
· Do you charge developers/management companies for New
Build communal bins? If yes, do you make any profit from this or
charge or just cover the full cost of the bin? Does the price include
anything else, eg: free recycling bags, multiple education visits to all
flats, literature etc.?
Bins at new properties
· Do you charge management companies for continual
missing/damaged/lost communal bins, and under what
circumstance would you charge them?
· Do you allow for repairs of communal bins to be made at a
lower cost?

 

RSC0819 - Volunteer Schemes 03.11.16

A member authority would like the support of the wider APSE
Membership network regarding their experience of volunteer
schemes.

We are interested in introducing a “Clean Champions” scheme
whereby we provide residents with litter picking equipment to carry
out their own litter picking if they wish to do so in their
neighbourhood.

Have any other local authorities implemented such a scheme and
have they been encountered any Health and Safety
implications/barriers?

 

RSC0818 - Civil court prosecution of de-criminalised Section 46 offences 31.10.16

A member Authority is putting together a process for the
prosecution through civil courts of de-criminalised EPA Section 46
offences and would appreciate any guidance from other members
who are going through the same procedure, or who have
successfully put together a process leading to successful
conclusions.

 

RSC0817 - Triaging of Environmental Health Service Requests 31.10.16

A member authority is looking at developing a methodology for
triaging service requests for Environmental Health and other
Regulatory Services along the lines of:

Level 1 - noted, recorded, no further action, possible future intel.

Level 2 - noted, recorded, data shows a possible trend, watching.

Level 3 - requires a response in the next 7-28 days when resources allow?

Level 4 - Immediate response.

So as to avoid reinventing the wheel, they are enquiring whether
any authority has already implemented such a similar system that
they would be willing to provide details of.

Also any feedback on how it went down 'politically' / with service users would be welcomed.

 

RSC0816 - Assisted Waste Collection Policies 27.10.16

A member authority is undertaking a review of its assisted waste
collection policy, processes and procedures. This is a service where
operatives pull out, service and return residents wheeled bins.

The scope of the review includes a review of the criteria other LAs
use when permitting an assisted waste collection service.

The Council would be keen to review best practice and other LAs
criteria along with process or procedures which may be readily
available.

 

RSC0815 - Waste Service Apprenticeships 27.10.16

A member’s Waste service is considering setting up an
apprenticeship/training programme for Waste Operatives and have
identified a course in Sustainable Resource Management.

They are looking for information as to whether any other local
authority has an apprenticeship/ training scheme in place for Waste

Operatives undertaking this kind (or other) course.

They would therefore be interested in getting further details of how
any such scheme works.

 

RSC0814 - Moving from a free to a chargeable bulky refuse collection service

A member authority is enquiring whether any authorities have
experience of moving from free to chargeable bulky collections?

If so, would you be able to provide any headline data on the effect
on instances of fly-tipping either within your own authority, or
reported by neighbouring authorities?

 

RSC0813 - Impact of moving from weekly to fortnightly collections
on recycling outcomes and residual tonnage 25.10.16

This member authority would be grateful to hear from other member
authorities who have moved from weekly sack refuse collections to
alternate week wheeled bin collections in the last 2 years.

In particular they would be grateful to know whether as a result of
the move, there has been any of the following:
· An increase in recycling tonnage?
· An increase in recycling rate?
· A reduction in residual tonnage?

If yes to any of the above, what was the change?

 

RSC0812 - Streetscene and waste policies 20.10.16

A member authority is undertaking a review of street scene and
waste policies – many of which were written and ratified many years
ago. The scope of the review includes:

· Fly tipping / Abandoned vehicles
· Littering / Littering from a car / Fly posting
· Graffiti / Dog fouling / Assisted Gardening
· Domestic collections side waste
· Missed bins / Bulky waste collections
· Assisted waste collections / Additional bins / Bin Charging

 

RSC0811 - Short survey on delivery models for commercial ( trade ) waste 20.10.16    

This APSE member authority is considering the most efficient way to deliver commercial ( trade ) waste services and they would like to find out what delivery methods operate in other APSE member councils such as in-house teams, wholly owned local authority company, outsourced contracts or through delegation to a neighbouring council.

To assist we would be most grateful is you could take five minutes of your time to answer this short survey. 

 

RSC0810 - Municipal golf courses - income generationand mixed use 19.10.16

A member authority which runs a municipal golf courses is looking
for example from other local authorities with the same facility in
respect of:
- Income generation initiatives which have proved successful for municipal golf courses
- Alternative joint uses with golf that Councils have introduced
in to municipal courses which have proved successful, these do not have to be income generating.

 

RSC0809 - Sale of recyclable materials 12.10.16

A member authority is interested to hear from any local authority
which has in-sourced, or has always negotiated, its own contracts
for the sale of recyclable materials it collects from its recycling
collection services.
In particular they would be interested in the following information:
• How long have you been directly negotiating contracts with
companies who take your recyclable materials?
• Which materials do you currently have contracts for?
• Which officer or department is responsible for developing and
negotiating contracts?

They would be interested in any other information which you feel
would be helpful to a local authority considering in-sourcing the
sale of its materials which it collects via its own recycling services.

Finally they are keen to discover whether any local authority runs its
own Material Recycling Facilities and sells the materials collected,
and any information they would be willing to share on its funding,
operation and sale of materials sorted.

 

RSC0808 - Skate Board Park Provision 12.10.16

A member authority is interested in other Councils that may have
developed a skateboard park. , in particular they wish to know:
1. Have you developed a skateboard park?
2. Why was it developed?
3. What was the budget?
4. How has it performed?
5. Is it a purpose built skateboard park and did you have a
temporary structure previously?
6. Could you share details of the specification or an overview?

 

Local authority run Material Reclamation Facilities 23.09.16

A member authority is interested in finding out whether any local
authorities runs, or are considering establishing a wholly-owned
Material Reclamation Facility (MRF).

In particular they wish to know:

Why was the decision taken to take on responsibility for such a
facility?

Do you negotiate your own contracts for the sale of recyclable
materials collected at the MRF?

What financial benefits has the MRF delivered, if any?

Does the MRF accept private sector waste and if so what types of
materials are accepted and what is the gate fee for the individual
materials (if available).

 

RSC0805 - Experiences using vehicles suitable for collecting both wheeled bins & sacks 15.09.16

This member authority would be grateful to hear from authorities
with experience using vehicles designed for collecting both wheeled
bins and sacks.

In particular, they would be very grateful to know:
1. What vehicles have you used?
2. Has the electric lift worked well?
3. Have you had any safety concerns related to the manual
handling of sacks going in to the vehicles?
4. Any other feedback you would offer to an authority looking to
procure a suitable vehicle

 

RSC0804 - Collecting garden waste in compostable bags 14.09.16

A member authority is enquiring whether any councils are collecting
garden waste in compostable bags that are suitable for the windrow
composting method .

The enquiring authority is investigating the potential of using bags
as an addition to bins to support their garden waste collection
service.

 

RSC0803 - Charging and permits for collection of non-household waste 12.09.16

A member authority would like to know if any local authorities
charge for non-household waste, for example, rubble/plasterboard?
If so, how much do they charge?

Also do any local authorities have a permit system in place for nonhousehold
waste when it is taken to a Household Waste Recycling
Centre ? If so, is the permit for all vehicles or just vans?

 

RSC0802 - Safe Handling practice guide: Collection of bulky household waste 12.09.16

A member authority is enquiring whether any member authorities
have a Safe Operating Procedure for the removal of household
bulky rubbish that they would care to share.

 

RSC0801 - Finding short-term resource to handle bin deliveries 01.09.16

In a season of low staffing levels due to leave, vehicle breakdowns
and a high demand for bin deliveries due to requests for garden
waste bins, this member authority has found their bin delivery list
has reached an all time high of 1,200 and that typically, customers
are waiting an estimated 6-8 weeks, where their service standard
states 2 weeks.

They would be interested to hear from anyone who has found
effective ways to manage demand during this season, in particular:

1) Whether anyone has hired an external company to deliver the
bins for a period of 2-4 weeks? In particular, how did you go about
managing this process and what would you recommend to this
authority?

2) They would also be interested to hear from other southern
authorities (near Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire/Hertfordshire) who
could assist in this way.

3) Finally, they would be interested to know whether others have
service standards significantly different from a two-week lead in
time?

4) Any other thoughts and ideas about how to effectively manage
this demand?

 

RSC0800 - Action against leaving domestic bins out 07.09.16

A member authority wishes to know how other member authorities
manage the issue of bins being left on the street. They are
particularly interested in:

· What action is taken should a resident continue to leave their
bin on the highway causing an obstruction?

· Do members issue any formal enforcement or fixed penalties?

· Do any members publish an enforcement strategy which sets
out how your authority will deal with such an offence?

 

RSC0799 - Parks/Planning SLA 07.09.16

A member authority is preparing to write a simple agreement
between a parks department (trees, landscape, ecology, grounds
maintenance, community involvement, Open space etc. etc.) and a
planning department. This SLA will help to manage expectations
and ensure sufficient resource are allocated to meet future needs.

They are interested in reading any similar SLA‘s which may have
been written by member authorities.

 

RSC0797a - Insourcing services 31.08.16

APSE are interested to discover whether any authority has
insourced a single service, or more of its services in the areas of
Refuse Collection and Recycling collection, Grounds Maintenance
or Street Cleansing and is willing to share such information or
experiences, in particular:

1. Why did you decide to insource the service?
2. What worked well when undertaking the insourcing process?
2. What didn’t go so well?
3. What consultation was undertaken with unions?
4. What Consultation was undertaken with staff?
5. What Consultation was undertaken with contractors?
6. Was there integration with contractors staff?

 

RSC0797b - Fly-tipping campaigns 19.08.16

A member authority is currently investigating the issue of flytipping,
focussing particularly on communal household waste bins,
however they would be interested in any information which would
be gratefully received:

In particular they are keen to discover if any other authorities have
run a successful campaign to target fly-tipping?

How did you go about it?

How successful was it?

How did you measure success?

 

RSC0797 - Bin returns to properties policies 10.08.16

A members current ‘bin return’ policy requires waste and recycling
crews to return domestic bins to their point of collection at the
property boundary. However, they are receiving intermittent
complaints that bins have been returned carelessly, e.g. left in the
middle of driveways, etc. and they are keen to quantitatively
monitor (as far as possible) the quality of bin returns.

Whilst monitoring not an exact science, they are asking whether
other authorities can advise on their own methodologies to assess
bin return performance?

 

RSC0796a - Suppression of dust on mechanical roadsweepers 19.08.16

A member authority is enquiring regards what additional measures
authorities or their contractors use to reduce the inhalation of dust
by the drivers of Mechanical Road Sweepers. Specific Risk
Assessments for this task would also be welcome.

This request is interested in finding out about measures taken which
are over and above the normal water spray suppression system on
Road Sweepers.

 

RSC0796 - Wireless headsets/earpieces for Drivers and Loaders to communicate 10.08.16

This member authority is considering purchasing wireless headsets
or earpieces for Drivers and Loaders to communicate whilst
manoeuvring vehicles. They would be very grateful to hear from
any other member authority who has reviewed and/or implemented
this option.

In particular, they would be very grateful if you could reply to the
following questions:
1) Have you purchased a form of wireless communication
between loaders and drivers in the cab?
2) If so, what system do you use?
3) What are the strengths and pitfalls of the system you use and
would you recommend it?
4) If you have reviewed this option and decided against it, why
was that?
 

RSC0795 - Community Environmental involvement 02.08.16

A member authority is currently in the process of developing
proposals to build self-reliance across the borough and encourage
residents, community groups, businesses and schools to become
active in looking after their community and local environment.

As part of this, they are researching the approaches taken by other
Councils to with regards to incentive / recognition schemes.

They are also keen to find out if other areas have developed toolkits
(digital or physical) to support local residents to get involved in
distinct activities, such as the removal of fly posting, or litter picking.

They are therefore enquiring whether other council’s be willing to
share their experiences?

 

RSC0794 - Adjusting maximum bin lifts 12.09.16

A member is enquiring as to whether any authority has imposed a
maximum bin weight by adjusting the maximum lifting load to an
acceptable limit.
For example, the default maximum weight limit of a single bin lift is
100 kgs which is more than enough to lift a loader and bin together
with potentially catastrophic results.
if the max limit was set to say 60 kgs this could eliminate this.

 

RSC0793 - Number and emptying method for dog waste bins 26.07.16

A member authority is looking to obtain the following information:
· Figures for how many floor and post mounted litter/dog waste
bins other Councils have,
· How often they are emptied

 

RSC0792 - Charging for waste containers 18.07.16

A member authority is currently looking at starting to charge for
containers for new builds as well as lost/damaged replacements.

They would like, if possible, to learn about other local authorities
experiences of rolling out a similar policy in the past year or so. In
particular they are interested in:
· Charging for containers for new builds - how have you
implemented this? (through planning i.e. CIL or not?).
· If not CIL, has your local authority used S46 as a basis to
charge?
· How are payments taken?
· Charging for replacements – has any local authority
experienced any evidence of increase in theft of containers to avoid
paying or any increase in complaints.
· By introducing charging has there been an increase in levels
of admin resource is needed to manage?
· Did any local authority experience any negative press as a
result of introducing charges?
· Any examples of cabinet/council reports would be welcome.

 

RSC0791 - Moving to a chargeable green waste collection 18.07.16

A member authority due to tightening budgets, has been asked to
look at all opportunities to generate income from the refuse and
recycling services. Although they are aware they are unable to
charge for “household” waste collections, Garden waste services
can be charged for.

They would be interested to learn from others local authorities who
have changed from a free service to a chargeable service, or even
where they have stopped collections completely;
· what their experiences have been.
· fees set and the take up rates on introduction and how/if they
changed over time.

A further question is that for a number of years they have
encouraged residents to place food waste in the green (garden)
waste bin. It is their understanding that they must stop this message
and direct householders to put all food into the residual waste
stream (or introduce a separate free food collection service).

Therefore they are especially interested in the experiences of
anyone that has addressed or is considering addressing this issue.

 

RSC0790 - Increased residual waste caused by introducing green garden waste collections 11.07.16

A member authority is enquiring about the kerbside collection of
green garden waste and the implications of moving to a chargeable
service.

They are keen to discover from authorities who have introduced a
chargeable green garden waste collections, what has happened to
the garden waste of those residents who previously had a free
collection , but who have not signed up for the chargeable service.

In particular they would like information on:
· Have Waste Disposal Authorities/Metropolitan Borough
Council’s and Unitary Authorities seen a rise in their residual waste
tonnages, post charging ?
· If so, are they able to attribute this with any certainty, to
garden waste that previously would have gone through the free
kerbside collection route ?

The member authority is unsure about charging as the charge for
green waste sent to windrowing is far cheaper than disposing of
residual waste, and the concern is that the introduction of a
chargeable garden waste service could cause more garden waste
being disposed of via the residual bin as people choose not to pay
for a garden green waste collection.

 

RSC0789 - Glass collections in wheeled bins 11.07.16

A member authority is looking for information from those local
authorities which collect glass in wheeled bins.

In particular they wish to know if local authorities would provide an
estimation of the annual tonnages collected, and by association:
· Number of bins collected per round.
· Size of bin used for glass collection.
· Frequency of collection.
· Number of properties collected from.

 

RSC0788 - Anti-social behaviour in public toilets 13.07.16

A member authority is enquiring about how other local authorities
deal with anti-social behaviour in their public conveniences, in
particular:
· Are other APSE members having problems with drug activity
in their public toilets?
· How are other members dealing with Clothes, sharps and
drug related waste in public toilets?
· How are other members working with the police and other
authorities on improving this issue?

 

RSC0787 - Shift Patterns 13.07.16

A member authority is currently operating environmental services at
weekend using a 4 on, 4 off shift pattern to provide 7 day cover.

This generates a weekend premium payment for employees and
creates the requirement for weekend supervision.
· Do other councils work 7 days per week in street
cleansing/environmental services and if so how does the shift
pattern work?
· For those who don’t have a 7 day service is regular over time
used to manage weekend demands?

 

RSC0786 - Ratio of Health and Safety Officers 04.07.16

A member is enquiring about ratios of Health and Safety
professionals to employees in other local authority Waste &
Recycling and Environmental Services operations.
They would be grateful for any information received.

 

RSC0785 - Recycling in Communal areas 04.07.16

A member authority is seeking to increase participation in recycling
from residents in communal areas. Communal collection areas are
provided with 1280L bins for the separate collection of paper/card
and plastics, 240 litre containers are provided for the collection of
glass and cans and 140 litre containers for food waste.
In particular they are interested in obtaining information from
authorities re:

· What internal provision is provided to residents to transport
various recyclates to the communal bins e.g. bags, boxes;

· Did authorities conduct any pre resident consultation with
residents/and/or housing officers to establish suitable internal
provision - example consultation surveys would be appreciated

· Communication methods – beyond issue of leaflets - what
communications have resulted in increased participation, reduced
contamination of containers.

 

RSC0784 - In- cab IT Refuse Collection recording systems 22.06.16

A member authority is interested in hearing about what in-cab IT
systems other local authorities use for refuse collection recording
and the benefits they have derived from introducing such systems.

 

RSC0783 - Bin Placement/ Bin Evaluation Policy 22.06.16

This member authority would like to know whether other local
authorities have a bin placement and/ or bin evaluation policy? In
particular, they wish to know:

1. Where do you typically place your public waste bins?
2. What factors are taken into consideration when considering
various requests from t