Decision details

(i)  To approve the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy; and

(ii)  To agree with the principle of a twin-stream recycling system, rather than a kerbside sort, and delegate authority to the Service Director for Business Development, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Customer Service and Transformation, to develop a detailed plan for the implementation of a twin-stream collection service in the city.

1.  Twin streaming has been modelled as suitable for all PI partners and provides the most cost-effective and environmentally beneficial way to meet the requirements of the Bill; and

2.  Committing to twin streaming by approving the JMWMS will enable work to progress – through tripartite disposal arrangements between HCC, SCC and PCC – on the significant infrastructure changes needed to meet the requirements of the Bill. A decision relating to the building of a new material recycling facility (“MRF”) at Chicken Hall Lane in Eastleigh is due to be brought to Cabinet in 2022.

1.  Adoption of kerbside sort instead of twin streaming: Through the measures in the Bill, the Government is seeking to maximise the quality of recycling through material segregation. Its preference is for a kerbside sort system for DMR. Kerbside sort requires households to maintain a separate bin for each recyclable material. Under the current collection system, residents have three bins (residual, co-mingled DMR and glass). Kerbside sort DMR would require an additional three containers for residents, and significant modification to waste transfer station sites (eg, Marchwood).

2.  The collection and disposal of household waste outside of Hampshire’s integrated waste management system: This decision would require SCC to end its contractual relationship with HCC and PCC in relation to disposal, and to leave PI. SCC has rights and liabilities under the disposal contract between HCC and Veolia with respect to its administrative area, including ownership of capital assets worth over £9m. This contract ends in 2030. This report has not considered whether early termination is provided for by the relevant contracts. This notwithstanding, it is submitted that leaving should not be considered a viable option at the present time because of the significant strategic and costs advantages participation in the integrated waste management system affords SCC.