2017

RSC0935 - Pedestrian access to Household Waste Recycling Centres - 19.12.17

A member Authority is receiving a number of requests from
members of the public to provide a pedestrian access to the local
HWRC (Household Waste Recycling Facility). There are obvious
issues of safety for pedestrians at what was designed as a vehicle
only facility and therefore the enquiring authority would be
interested to hear from other member authorities how they have
coped with this matter.

Does any authority provide a pedestrian access to their HWRCs,
and if they do how was a safe route established;

Was there a restriction placed on its usage e.g. certain opening
times only, no bicycles etc?

The enquiring authority would welcome all responses whether
negative for example:

• Request received but turned down, explaining the reason why,
• Responses which were positive e.g. pedestrian access was provided explaining the terms on which it was agreed;
• Or even no requests of this nature received, so that a complete background to this issue can be developed.

 

RSC0934 - Cleaning around large sporting stadiums - 19.12.17

A member authority is seeking information re Street Cleansing
arrangements around large sporting stadiums on match days – do
authorities charge for additional bin emptying and street cleansing
activities as a consequence of the event?

Do the organisations who run the stadia undertake the works
directly on these streets or is the expectation that this work is ‘Local
Authority’ and is carried out a no charge by the LA?

 

RSC0933 - Removal of vomit and blood off streets – 13.12.17

A member authority is enquiring about how do street cleansing
teams deal with vomit or blood on streets?

In particular they are looking for information on the following
aspects:

• Does the Council have a procedure for dealing with vomit or blood?
• Is there a risk assessment for such activities?
• Does the cleansing team disinfect the vomit or blood prior to removing it? If so, what method and products do they use?

 

RSC0932 - Prosecuting fly-tippers – 13.12.17

1. A member authority is enquiring what legislation are other
members using when dealing with Fly tipping offences, particularly
when a person has paid a person or company to remove and
dispose of their waste.

2. The waste is then found with evidence of the person who paid but
no evidence linking the persons or company who disposed of the
waste.

 

RSC0931 - Food waste collection contracts - 11.12.17

A member authority is looking at food waste in their new contract
and are looking for information about the following aspects form any
other local authorities delivering this service, Namely:

1. When was a food waste collection introduced to your residents?
2. Is it a weekly collection or fortnightly?
3. What is the frequency of collection for general refuse?
4. What is the kg/household/week rate for food waste collections?
5. What percentage has the food waste added to your recycling and what was your recycling rate before introduction of food waste?
6. Is it a single pass vehicle or do you have dedicated vehicles for food waste collection.
7. Over the period of time that the food waste collection service has there been in operation what has been the impact on the rate of food waste recycling. If it has being reducing what methods will use to maintain/increase it?

The member authority would also like to know what is average
missed collection rate for any collected waste streams.

 

RSC0930 - PPE management – glove washing and allocation - 11.12.17

A member authority is seeking to improve the use of the PPE
budget and would be grateful to understand how other local
authorities manage the washing and allocation of gloves for refuse
and street cleansing operatives:

It would be appreciated if you could please arrange for a colleague
in your authority to drop a quick reply to the following questions:

• Do you wash your gloves?
• If so, what types of gloves do you use and are they washed in house or serviced by an external company?
• How do you allocate gloves to operatives? Do you hand them out, use a vending machine which dispenses them on production of a card or another way?
• If a vending machine, do staff keep hold of their cards or do management/supervisors?

 

RSC0929 - Assessing residents for assisted collections - 06.12.17

A member authority is currently looking at the assisted collections
offered to residents within the borough and would like to ask other
members the following questions to assist us with this task.

• How does your authority assess residents for assisted collections and what criteria do residents need to meet to qualify for them?
• Does your authority write to residents receiving the service annually to see if they still need it?

 

RSC0928 - Managing clinical waste previously collected by NHS - 06.12.17

A member authority is enquiring how local authorities have
managed Clinical waste collections (offensive hygiene waste /
clinical infectious and sharps), since NHS England no longer
provided this service from 1st April 2017, passing the responsibility
to local authorities under the EPA.

In particular:

1. The impact on revenue budgets?
2. Do you charge residents for the service?
3. Has this been managed and resources in-house or contracted out for collection arrangement?
4. What verification, approval processes are in place for residents to receive the service?

They would also welcome any associated procedures, charging structures etc.

 

RSC0927 - Use of 18 tonne split bodied refuse collection vehicles - 01.12.17

A member authority is interested to know if any other local
authorities are currently utilising or have utilised an 18 tonne split
bodied refuse collection vehicle.

The member authority is considering this to service their rural
properties for general waste and recycling and would appreciate any
input or information available.

Particular points of interest are;

• Payload, split ration,
• Maintenance issues,
• Provider of both vehicle and body,
• Type of waste collected, and
• Crew feedback.

 

RSC0926 - No Tipping signs - 01.12.17

A member authority would be grateful to understand the approach
that other local authorities have taken over the provision of No Fly-
Tipping signs.

• Have they proved useful, is there evidence to suggest that they deter offending or are they used just for a public relations exercise?
• Are they placed at known “hot-spots” both on public and private land?
• Is there liaison over their provision with other statutory bodies such as Highways Authority and Environment Agency
• Does the text describe the maximum court fine or the potential FPN fine
• Does the provision of a discrete number of signs within known “hotspots” generate public demand for others in less blighted areas.

 

RSC0925 - Use of 8 wheel refuse collection vehicles in semi- rural areas - 27.11.17

A member authority would like to ask members about the use of 8
wheeler vehicles for refuse collection as opposed to 6 wheelers.

The member authority is a semi - urban/ semi-rural district
considering the use of 4 rounds using 8 wheelers (32t 8x 4) as
opposed to operating 5 rounds using 6 wheelers (26t 6 x 4’s) to
save the costs of one rounds staffing costs.

They would like to hear from any other authorities which operates 8
wheelers on refuse in semi urban/rural districts and how successful
such an approach is.

 

RSC0924 - Moving from a kerbside sort recycling collection service to a co-mingled collection service - 27.11.17

A member authority are looking to hear from any LA’s who have
moved from a kerbside sort recycling collection service to a comingled
collection service.

They are particularly interested in what affect this had on recycling
tonnages and rates.

 

RSC0921 - In house dog warden services - 17.11.17

A member authority is considering a review of its Dog Warden
Service as to whether to contract out or retain it In house services.

They are looking for information from those authorities which have
retained their dog warden service in-house, in particular:

1. Number of dog wardens for the local authority area (if multi role e.g. litter, fly tipping etc. please state)

2. Hours of work of a dog warden (Mon to Fri, any weekend cover, out of hours cover)

3. Shift pattern of a dog warden e.g. if you provide:

• 8 hour,
• 1 2 hour shift
• Other, please state

4. What holiday arrangement cover do you have

5. What are the dog wardens responsible for, fouling, straying, enforcement (issuing of FPNs)

6. Is there any administrative support provided – Yes or No, If No, do the dog wardens do all the administration in relation to the service.

 

RSC0920 - Working agreements with front-line staff - 14.11.17

A member authority’s Waste Collection Management Team are
currently reviewing the working agreement that we have with front
line staff.

Do any authorities with an in-house waste collection service have
documented working practices, working agreements or codes of
conduct that they would be willing to share?

 

RSC0919 - Green waste collection methodology - 14.11.17

A member authority is aware that based on APSE data, 94% of
Councils collect green waste as a separate recycling collection
service and of these over 80% collect on a fortnightly cycle.

They would be interested to know how many authority collect green
waste as a bag collection and how many collect as a bin collection.
Equally of those who collect green waste as a bin collection, what
proportion incorporate food collection in the same bin.

 

RSC0918 - Dual use of vehicles – 09.11.17

A member authority is currently looking into the possibilities of using
the same vehicle that is used to carry pest control supplies to also
be used as a dog warden (dog cage) vehicle.

Are there any other Authorities who operate a dual vehicle in this
way who could provide us with any information that could assist us
in making our decisions?

 

RSC0917 - Chewing gum removal machinery - 09.11.17

A member authority would like to hear from other authorities with
regards to how they deal with the removal of chewing gum from
pavements and what machinery they use?

 

RSC0916 - Charges for additional collections at domestic properties - 07.11.17

The standard collection frequency in a member authority borough is
an alternate weekly collection of refuse and recycling with a weekly
collection of food waste.

At certain flatted properties a weekly collection of both refuse and
recycling is required due to reduced capacity.

At some locations wit is accepted that the additional collections
would be beneficial.

Are there any collection authorities who charge for additional waste
collections from domestic residences when the collections are in
addition to the standard schedule?

 

RSC0915 - Street Litter Bin Policy - 07.11.17

This local authority would be grateful if other local authorities could
provide information on the following questions on Street Litter Bin
Policy:

1. If you currently have a Street Litter Bin Policy, could you share details of this?
2. If you are currently developing a policy, could you share what information you can about it?
3. Would any local authorities be happy to work together to produce a Street Litter Bin Policy?

 

RSC0914 - Information on introducing three weekly residual/recycling collections - 01.11.17

A member authority is currently looking into 3 weekly or 4 weekly
residual and/or recycling collections and would welcome any
information from members who have been through this process, are
going through this process or have dismissed the idea.

They are particularly interested to know the following:

• How has it impacted other services?
• Specifically with regards to 3 or 4 weekly residual collections what additional services had to be employed to be able to cope?
• What are the actual or expected net cost savings excluding disposal?
• How prepared were members of the public/what was the consultation process?
• What impact has it had on landfill and recycling rates?
• Has there been any negative publicity?
• Any other information they feel may be relevant?

 

RSC0913 - Increasing the capacity of litter bin provision – 01.11.17

A member authority currently uses a barrel litter bin style with a 70
litre capacity due to manual handling restriction.

They are looking at ways to increase capacity of each bin, increase
safety and modernise the emptying process.

The member authority is therefore considering the install 240 or 360
wheelie bin housing in strategy location on Parks with vehicular
access all year round.

Has any other authority considered or tried this type of litter bin
change recently?

• What areas did you try it in?
• How did you achieve it?
• Did you install metal or plastic housing and why?
• What positive and negative issues did you encounter?
• What vehicle do you use to empty them?
• Any help would be appreciated.’

 

RSC0912 - Additional refuse collection/street cleansing funding to deal with new builds – 26.10.17

A member authority has raised the problems facing collection
authorities where an increase in new properties being built is not
being matched with additional funding to provide collection/street
cleaning services to these new homes.

They are enquiring as to whether any other authority has been able
to gain additional funding to provide services to new properties and
how they achieved this.

In particular they would be interested in any reports which were
used to achieve the extra funding.

 

RSC0911 - Collection of unidentified street waste - 26.10.17

A member authority has recently experienced an issue relating to
the collection of a reported ‘fly tipped’ item, deposited in a busy
pedestrian accessed roadside location, close to a busy town centre.
The item, a filled, unmarked 25ltr ‘water’ container was collected by
our streetscene operatives and stored at our depot site.

The contents of the container was later identified as an unstable
highly concentrated hydrochloric acid.

They would like to ask:

What PPE other local authorities require their employees to wear
when collecting unknown substances?
Are items of an ‘unknown’ nature collected or sub contracted for
collection from public areas.
If sub contracted what is the ‘trigger’ point – i.e. how are items
identified?

 

RSC0910 - Separate hygiene waste collections - 04.12.17

A member authority is enquiring whether other local authorities
currently providing a separate hygiene waste collection service to
HMO / blocks of flats?

If so,

• What are the specific issues encountered?
• How is the waste contained at the communal waste area?
• What type of vehicle is used to collect the waste?

 

RSC0908 - Commercial Waste review - 09.10.17

A member authority is looking to review its Commercial Waste
Service and is looking to see if it is a viable income generator or
breakeven model.

They are interested in finding out how other local authorities
commercial waste services are provided either in house or
outsourced.

They are particularly interested in what service other councils
provide for General mixed/Recyclable/Food/Glass:

• Bins sizes
• Amount / lift

Details of pricing model

• Discounts available
• Charitable/church rate
• Terms (contract)
• Frequency
• How is the commercial waste billed – invoiced monthly, in advance.
• What systems are used – Technological or other
• What operational structure are in place

Finally they wish to know whether the Overhead (CEC), wipe out the
income generated, any details provided would be useful.

 

RSC0907 - Confidential Waste/ Shredding Service - 09.10.17

This local authority would be grateful if other local authorities could
provide information on the following questions:

1. Do you offer an Inhouse confidential waste/shred-it service?
2. Could you share details, job descriptions, service strategies etc?

 

RSC0906 - Assisted bin collection policies - 04.10.17

A member authority is looking for information regarding Assisted bin
lift policies.

Specifically how do Local Authorities determine who is eligible for an
Assisted Bin lift?

They wish to know in particular:

• Do local authorities carry out an assessment themselves?
• Do they issue a letter?
• Is there an expectation to use a Health Professional e.g. GP,health worker/community representative  to verify the criteria for assisted collections is met?

 

RSC0905 - Reviewing approaches to Food Waste collections - 04.10.17

A member authority is seeking to review their approach to Food
Waste collection and to help with this, would be very grateful for
short replies to the following nine questions, where known, which
will then be shared with all who respond.

1. What method of collections do you use? (If using slave bins – what size?)
2. How many properties does each food round service?
3. If known, what is the participation rate?
4. What is the average weight collected, weekly per round?
5. How many crew members are allocated to each round?
6. Do you offer a flats collection service?
7. Are there any H&S issues regarding collecting food waste ie weight of bins, RSI?
8. Do crews work a 4 or 5 day week?
9. Do crews report any non-presentation of caddies? If so, how? Do you use in-cab technology or are reports hand-written?

 

 

RSC0904 - Use of Enforcement Agents - 28.09.17

A member authority has raised a questions in relation to
unauthorised encampments.

They are interested in obtaining information regarding the use of
Enforcement Agents (formally known as Baliffs) that use to enforce
Section 78 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 – in
respect of Unauthorised Encampments?

They would also be interested in contact details.

 

RSC0903 - Estimating environmental waste offence costs - 28.09.17 

A member authority is looking to calculate the cost of enforcement
and would be grateful for any responses from local authorities who
have worked out average operational costs for investigating
environmental waste offences.

They are particularly interested in indicative costs for investigation
of a fly-tip, or the cleaning up of an alleyway using Community
Protection Notices (CPN’s).

They appreciate these figures may be are estimates but would be
happy to receive some ideas to help them work out the overall cost
of enforcement for waste offences.

 

RSC0902 - Graffiti Removal Charges - 21.09.17

A member authority is looking for information from other local
authorities regarding information relating to their charge-out rate for
removal of graffiti (in-house) and also external contractor rates
(preferably rate per m2 if available).

 

RSC0901 - Experience of In Cab devices - 21.09.17

A member authority is currently in the process of running a pilot
using an in cab device to display scheduled street cleaning routes,
They are therefore enquiring if any other authorities have this type
of device in place and could they possibly share their experiences?

They are looking for information on:

• Legal use for operator/driver whilst in the cab
• Risk Assessments for in cab use
• Resistance from staff if any and what type of concerns were raised
• Type of device used
• Did this increase productivity?
• Where saving made?

Any other information relating to the use of in cab devices would be
very much appreciated.

 

RSC0900 - Cat litter in recycling bins - 15.09.17

A member authority is looking for any information regarding
authorities experiencing issues with handling of cat litter in blue or
brown bins. Specifically bins which are meant to be used for
recycling purposes and/or composting bins which operatives have to
check the contents?

If a local authority has experienced, did they carry out a risk
assessment, then the enquirer would be grateful to have sight of
these.

 

RSC0899 - Up Front Charging for trade waste collections - 15.09.17

A member authority currently charges quarterly in advance but have
issues with some customers cancelling direct debits so having to
chase payments.

The authority is interested to know whether any councils take
payments from trade waste customers up front prior to delivering
bins and starting collections and if so, how much, a month or
quarter or more?

 

RSC0898 - Real nappy schemes - 04.09.17

A member authority has enquired whether other local authorities
would share information regarding real nappy schemes.

In particular they wish to know:

• What are the main features of the scheme?
• How is the scheme promoted?
• How is it administered?
• How long has the scheme been running?
• Has the scheme dropped off from the original uptake?

 

RSC0896 - Recycling of Christmas trees - 08.09.17

Every year a member authority organises and promotes local pick
up points in January for Christmas trees.

At present, the council collects them either inside or alongside
garden waste bins, at household recycling centres and also local
pick up points.

The authority is currently carrying out a review of this and is
interested in finding out how other councils collect Christmas Trees
following the festive period.

 

RSC0895 - Dealing with missed bins – 08.09.17

A member is interested in finding information on the following issues
from other councils.

The cost of customer services and number of staff employed in
supporting waste services.

The number of missed bins and the associated cost in collecting
them.

The efforts to reduce the impact of this costly catch up exercise and
how they are trying to reduce it through:

• direct access /information with the customer regarding missed bins
• other measures to manage the impact and lower costs of dealing with missed bins

 

 

RSC0894 - New Garden Waste Collection Service - 30.08.17

A member Authority is exploring options for implementing an
updated garden waste collection service for the Winter of 2018.

They would like to know of the kinds of service being offered by
other authorities, in particular:

• How often is it collected?
• Is it a full collection or do they only collect from households
• that have requested a collection for that particular week?
• Is it an opt in service?
• Is it chargeable?
• Is there a limit to how much waste is collected perhousehold?
• Any other information they think may be useful.

 

RSC0893 - Dog bins - operation and policy query - 30.08.17

A member authority are interested to hear what other authorities
have in place for dog waste bins provision, including the
maintenance and emptying cycle.

They are particularly interested in the following information:

• How many bins do you have across the authority,
• Does this include locations on private land and is there a charge for emptying bins on private property?
• What is the estimated cost of maintaining dog bins?
• Do you have a dog waste bin policy that they are happy to let the enquiring authority have sight of?

 

RSC0891 - Moving from chargeable to free bulky waste collections - 240817

A member authority is enquiring if any other authorities have moved
from chargeable to free bulky waste collections and if so, why? Or
already provide free collections.

They would also be interested in receiving the following information
as a result of the change:

• Number of households the council serves
• Tonnages collected per year (WEEE and other)
• Have there been any increases of tonnages for disposal as a result of the changes?
• If available tonnages of household items via HWRC
• Impact on recycling rate as a result of the introduction of the changes
• How many vehicles , type and staff per vehicle?
• Impact on civic amenity/HWRC sites i.e. what were visitor numbers pre and post introduction of chanages
• What is the wait times for free collection?

 

RSC0890 - Litter bins capacity on Park open spaces - 22.08.17

At present a member authority uses a barrel litter bin style with a 70
litre capacity due to manual handling restriction.

They are looking at ways to increase capacity of each bin, increase
safety and modernise the emptying process. They are considering
installing 240 or 360 wheelie bin housing in strategic location in
Parks which have vehicular access all year round.

They wish to know if any other authority has considered or tried this
type of litter bin change recently, and if so:

• What areas did you try it in?
• How did you achieve it?
• Did you install metal or plastic housing and why?
• What positive and negative issues did you encounter?
• What vehicle do you use to empty them?

 

RSC0889 - Fly-tipping in alleyways - 15.08.17

A member Council has experienced an increase in the incidences of
fly tipping and dumping in alley ways in its area.

Their alleys are commonly not registered with the land registry and
so no one responsible party can be found to clear the alley.

They would therefore be interested to hear if other authorities have
similar issues and what approach they take to dealing with these
incidents, in particular:

• Do you for example clear for free or do you charge the occupiers of surrounding properties for such clearance.
• Has any authority taken an alternative approach that has proved to be successful.

 

RSC0888 - Commercial waste collection charges - 15.08.17

A member authority is currently reviewing its charges for
commercial bin collections.

The Council would be interested in hearing from other Councils as
to what methodology they use to calculate the collection and
disposal costs for their commercial bins (based on the size of the bin).