Communities, Housing and Environment Committee				Tuesday 20 September 2016
Is the final decision on the recommendations in this report to be made at this meeting?					Yes
Kent Waste Disposal Strategy – Consultation Response
Final Decision-Maker		Communities, Housing and Environment Committee
Lead Head of Service		Head of Environment and Public Realm
Lead Officer and Report Author		Head of Environment and Public Realm
Classification		Public
Wards affected		None
This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:
1.   That the draft consultation response (Appendix B) for Kent County Council’s Waste Disposal Strategy (Appendix A) is agreed and submitted as Maidstone’s formal response.
This report relates to the following corporate priorities:
·         Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all – ensuring waste is managed and disposed of effectively across Kent to reduce the impact on the environment and provide high quality services for residents
Timetable
Meeting			Date
Corporate Leadership Team			Tuesday 6 September 2016
Communities, Housing and Environment Committee			Tuesday 20 September 2016

Kent Waste Disposal Strategy – Consultation Response

 

1.        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

1.1     Over the past few months, Kent County Council has been developing a new long-term waste disposal strategy for Kent.  A number of workshops have been held to obtain views from stakeholders including the Kent Resource Partnership and borough councils.

 

1.2     Kent County Council has now produced a draft strategy and have launched a consultation on the priorities and objectives contained within it.

 

1.3     The purpose of this report is to enable the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee to review the draft strategy and comment on Maidstone’s consultation response.

 

2.        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

2.1     Kent County Council is the Waste Disposal Authority (WDA) for Maidstone and is responsible for managing all household waste collected in the borough, whether through Maidstone’s collection service or the local household waste recycling centre.

 

2.2     Kent County Council along with the 12 district councils in Kent form the Kent Resource Partnership, formerly known as the Kent Waste Partnership.

 

2.3     The Kent Resource Partnership collectively adopted the Kent Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (KJMWMS) which outlines how the Partnership intends to manage household waste arisings over the period 2007 to 2027.  The KJMWMS is due to be updated in 2017.

 

2.4     Maidstone already has its own 5 year waste strategy which sets ambitious targets to achieve 55% recycling by 2020 as well as reducing overall waste arisings and deliver zero waste to landfill. 

 

2.5     Since 2013, Maidstone Borough Council, along with Ashford and Swale Borough Councils, has worked in partnership with Kent County Council to deliver the Mid Kent Waste Contract.  As part of this there is an Inter Authority Agreement outlining the arrangements between the authorities including financial support and sharing of benefits.

 

2.6     This demonstrates the strong working relationship Maidstone has with the County Council for the delivery of high quality waste and recycling services.

 

2.7     The County Council have identified a number of drivers which require them to look differently at how the disposal service is provided, namely:

 

-      Population and Housing – the projects indicate a 22% increase in household waste between 2015 and 2031, predominantly due to an 18% growth in population.

-      Budget pressures – there is recognition that there will need to be significant capital investment to deliver the strategy and ambition

-      Market provision – the waste collection and disposal market has become increasingly commercially volatile with significant fluctuations in resource value

-      Current performance – in 2014/15, 48.4% of household waste was recycled or composted and 10.9% sent to landfill, with the remainder sent for energy recovery. 

-      Legislation and performance targets – the Waste Framework Directive requires the recycling or reuse of 50% of household waste by 2020 and an expectation of a 65% target for 2030

-      Interdependent Documents – including the KJMWMS, Kent Environment Strategy and a number of internal KCC strategies

 

2.8     The strategy presents the overall “Ambition” for Kent County Council as the Waste Disposal Authority up to 2035, specifically:

 

“Our Ambition is to deliver a high quality, value for money household waste disposal service for the people of Kent, with an emphasis on waste reduction, recycling and achieving zero landfill.”

 

2.9     The draft Kent Waste Disposal Strategy is included in Appendix A.

 

2.10 The Strategy sets out 6 key priorities, each with a number of objectives to achieve this.  The priorities are:

 

-      Working Together

-      Innovation and Change

-      HWRC Service Delivery

-      Customer Service

-      Commissioning

-      The Environment

 

2.11 For Maidstone residents, the main challenge around waste disposal is the Household Waste Recycling Facility in Tovil.  This facility struggles with capacity and is a significant distance for many residents to travel to.

 

2.12 The priorities are all key areas for Maidstone as the Waste Collection Authority to ensure maximum value is achieved from our waste and services can respond to increasing pressures including economic and population growth.

 

2.13 It is also important that we support the County Council to provide services for both residents and businesses in the Borough such as commercial outlets for waste and equality of access to household waste recycling facilities.

 

2.14 The draft consultation response is included in Appendix B.

 

3.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

 

3.1     The Committee could agree to endorse the draft consultation response included in Appendix B and agree for this to be submitted to Kent County Council. 

 

3.2     Alternatively the Committee could decide to amend the draft consultation response with additional comments before being submitted to Kent County Council.

 

3.3     The Committee could decide not to submit a response to the consultation.

 

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

4.1     It is recommended that the Committee approve the submission of the consultation response to inform Kent County Council’s draft strategy. 

 

4.2     It is important as the Waste Collection Authority, that Maidstone has the opportunity to influence the County’s Waste Disposal Strategy as this is likely to have an impact on the collection arrangements in Maidstone.

 

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

5.1     Details of the consultation were sent to all Members to enable them to either submit an individual response or to provide feedback to officers to inform the Council’s response.

 

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

6.1     If agreed, the consultation response will be submitted to Kent County Council before the deadline of 2 October 2016.

 

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Issue	Implications	Sign-off
Impact on Corporate Priorities	The recommended response will enable the Council to inform Kent County Council’s draft Waste Disposal Strategy and ensure that it supports Maidstone’s corporate priorities, specifically keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all.	Head of Environment and Public Realm
Risk Management
Financial
Staffing
Legal
Equality Impact Needs Assessment
Environmental/Sustainable Development
Community Safety
Human Rights Act
Procurement
Asset Management

 

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix A: Kent Waste Disposal Strategy – Draft Consultation Document

·         Appendix B: Consultation Response

 

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

None