WHEELIE BIN UPDATE OSCOTT TO GET THEM IN 2015

Many resident may not have seen press articles regarding the situation concerning Wheelie bins which have appeared recently. With this in mind I have posted a summary of a recent press article on the subject as I believe there can be no running away from the subject. love them or hate them most of us will have to have them.
NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO SAY I SHIED AWAY FROM THE SUBJECT

I do feel however as they are to be introduced it should be done a quickly as possible.
I will certainly be doing what I can to help resident having difficulty during the transition and would advice you when you are due to receive a Wheelie bin if you have concerns about it  let me know and although clearly there is a limit as to what can be done, I will try and help if I can.
 It should also be noted not all resident will have to have a Wheelie bin and some elderly or disabled residents will receive assistance If they need it with the collection of their wheelie bins.

summary of press statement

Wheelie bins for Birmingham

Advantages and aims of wheelie bins scheme:

- Save the taxpayer money by reducing spend on landfill taxes and incinerator fees, while also generating income from more recycling

- To improve cleanliness of city, by reducing number of split bags, problems with vermin etc

- To help recycle 50 per cent of waste by 2020, and by 60 per cent by 2026 (in 2012/13 Birmingham’s rate was 32.31 per cent)

- To reduce waste sent to landfill (in 2012/13 Birmingham’s figure was 7.43 per cent)

- Reducing carbon emissions (eg landfilling/incinerating less, more efficient vehicles)

- Reducing waste to a level better than national average for England

The plan:

Subject to Cabinet approval on September 16, wheelie bins to be rolled-out city wide by end of 2015, in the following order (following assessments of all low-rise properties for suitability):

- Montague Street depot (Ladywood District): March-July 2014

- Redfern Road depot (Hodge Hill, Hall Green and Yardley Districts) August-December 2014

- Perry Barr depot (Erdington, Perry Barr and Sutton Coldfield Districts) February-June 2015

- Lifford Lane depot (Edgbaston, Northfield and Selly Oak Districts) August-December 2015

The roll-out order has been chosen on the basis of which areas produce the most ‘black bag’ waste, the lowest levels of recycling, the highest incidence of litter and therefore the highest level of current cost for the service.

Note: There will be a small number of properties, on or near District boundaries, served by depots other than their “home” one. This is because some boundaries run through the centre of roads, meaning it makes operational sense. For the avoidance of doubt, all households will be written to directly before receiving bins.

Budget and operational matters:

- Annual fleet and waste management service cost is currently £69.1m, to deliver refuse, green waste, recycling and street cleaning services, vehicle maintenance functions, graffiti removal, etc PLUS the disposal of waste through landfill and the Tyseley Energy from Waste Plant, maintaining five Household Recycling Centres, three waste transfer stations, etc

- This modernisation programme over the next five years will represent an investment of around £62 million

- Domestic refuse rounds to increase from 40 to 54 (takes more time to collect wheelie bins than it does sacks)

- Average number of properties on residual collection round = 1,500 with 1,000 properties on a recycling round (handling the pod inside the bin etc takes longer)

- Staff on each round reduce from an average of 4.5 to 3 (wheelie bins require smaller crews)

- The more we recycle, the more savings we achieve (income stream for paper/card and a reduction in landfill tax charges)

- Assisted collections for those who cannot handle bins, and have no other able-bodied adult in the household

- Bins to be fitted with chips linked to property details to enable better management of the service (such as missed collections and lost bins) and better knowledge of how the service is used. Also be used for the incentivisation scheme – but absolutely not for “pay as you throw”

There are opportunities to weigh the recycling containers as part of a reward based scheme, this continues to be explored and will depend on a business case for this part of the project.

Feedback and results from the pilot:

From the public consultation:

- 91 per cent agree we should do more to increase recycling/reduce rubbish

- 59 per cent agree wheelie bins will reduce rubbish spilt onto the street

- 51 per cent agree wheelie bins will be good for city as a whole, with 35 per cent disagreeing

Initial evaluation for the two wards of Brandwood and Harborne shows:

- Residual (formerly black sack) waste has decreased by 23.75 per cent

- The amount of paper collected has increased by 20.22 per cent

- The amount of mixed materials (plastic, metal) collection has increased by 40.35 per cent

- Levels of street cleanliness increased by 54 per cent in Brandwood and 50 per cent in Harborne

These figures cover the first six weeks in each pilot ward, and have been independently evaluated by WRAP (Waste Resources Action Partnership). They are initial findings and not projections or predictions for the rest of the city. They are in line with expectations for this type of collection scheme in urban areas. The council will continue to monitor tonnages in the future.

Pre and post-wheelie bin delivery surveys were carried out in the two wards (covering more than 200 households). They showed:

- 91 per cent of households are satisfied/very satisfied with bin collections

- 77 per cent think the scheme has had a positive effect on the cleanliness of their neighbourhood (just 7 per cent think it has had a negative effect)

- 76 per cent of households support the introduction of the wheelie bins to their area, with just 13 percent opposing (4 per cent opposing and 9 per cent strongly opposing)

- 47 per cent of households now have a better opinion of the wheelie bin scheme, with only 6 per cent having a worse opinion

Lessons learned from the pilot:

- A streamlining of communications is needed. Although successful, it is acknowledged that fewer leaflets per household can be distributed as the scheme is rolled out city wide

- The initial option of a smaller recycling bin of 140 litres is not feasible and will not be offered as the recycling pod for paper waste is too small.

- The number of requests for assisted collections (on offer to those who have no adult within their home able to manage the bins) increased significantly, affecting productivity. Prior to wheelie bins, 58 households in Brandwood and 40 in Harborne were registered for assisted collections. For the pilots, these numbers increased to 497 and 339 respectively. Therefore checks will be needed to ensure the service is only provided to those that genuinely need it.

- A need to create additional recycling provision for households that have large amounts of paper for disposal, giving the council/city a chance to improve even further its recycling rates.

Other developments:

Recycling incentive scheme – a separate report is due at Cabinet later this year on how such a scheme might operate in Birmingham

Communications/ICT – a “slab in the cab” computer system is being developed as part of the city-wide roll-out, giving refuse collection crews all the key information they need about their rounds at the touch of a button, taking advantage of the chips fitted to the new bins.