Mrs
Jennifer Shepherd, Head of Environment and Public Realm, informed
the Committee of the achievements by the department over the period
of the waste contract. Mrs Shepherd
stated that 8 million waste collections had been made in Maidstone,
and 99% of collections had been successful since the contract began
in 2013. The target of 0.0% of waste
going to landfill had been achieved.
£1 million had been saved per year, however, Mrs Shepherd
cautioned that the saving would be difficult to maintain after the
contract expired without reviewing how the service
operated. It was stated that waste
figures were connected to the status of the economy, and therefore
Brexit introduced uncertainty about
future waste trends.
The
Committee commented that increasing awareness of recyclable
material, by putting stickers on bins, was key to ensuring that
appropriate items were placed in recycling bins.
In
response to a question from the Committee, Mrs Shepherd stated that
while some materials such as scrap metal were recyclable, these
were categorised as “objectionable” as they had not
been included in the contract specification.
RESOLVED:
That the performance of the Waste Contract be
noted.