Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report setting out details of the work undertaken by Waste Management to engage university students living in private housing in the city with using waste services correctly. 

The Commission is recommended to:

a)         Note and comment on the work undertaken by Waste Management; and

b)         Comment on the proposal to expand the donation bank service in future years.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report setting out details of the work undertaken by Waste Management services to engage university students living in private housing the in the city with using waste management services correctly.

Councillor Clarke, Deputy City Mayor with responsibility for Environment, Public Health and Health Integration, introduced the report, reminding Members of the need to work with students, due to the high level of turnover and the pressure the waste left behind this created on the authority.

The Service Development Manager (Waste Management) advised the Commission that the Council had engaged with students regarding waste collection for many years, so the work detailed in the report was additional to that.  It was recognised that waste was unlikely to be a high priority for students, but the volume produced at the end of a university year potentially could have a big impact on the city.  Work undertaken therefore included:

·           When attending events at the universities, hundreds of students were spoken to and over 300 rolls of orange recycling bags were issued;

·           Work with estate agents to include waste services literature in welcome packs given to student tenants; and

·           Two key pieces of work at the end of the university year were extending the bulky waste collection service and work done with the British Heart Foundation, which already worked with the universities to encourage students to donate unwanted items to the charity, to install temporary donation banks in certain areas.

Waste Management officers perceived that a limit of five items for bulky waste collections could be a potential barrier to students using the service at the end of the academic year.  As a trial, just under 300 properties were identified to receive an extended bulky waste collection service.  These were selected by mapping areas to identify where student accommodation was concentrated.  A control group also was identified, which did not receive the extended service.  Both groups were monitored over the time that students were moving out of their properties, but uptake of the additional bulky collection service was very limited, suggesting that the item limit was not a barrier to take up of the service. 

It was calculated that approximately 48% of excess waste left outside properties during this time was attributable to students.  However, approximately 52% was found to be from other residents.  This finding challenged the popular opinion that students were largely, or wholly, responsible for excess waste on the streets, particularly at this time of year.  This was the only time in which this waste was monitored in this way, so it was not known how this compared to other times.  Waste Management services worked with the City Warden service, by providing information on waste collection bookings to assist with the City Wardens’ investigations in to excess waste.

The Commission welcomed the initiatives, but queried how students outside the trial areas would be contacted.  In reply, it was noted that work had been done in conjunction with Council Tax services to identify student properties.  The residents of all student properties of which the Council was aware had been contacted with information about bulky waste collection services and three areas were given the option of an extended service.  Literature about waste collection also had been circulated in university halls of residence and work had been undertaken with the Council Tax service to identify as many student properties as possible.

Members noted that the most successful part of this campaign had been the temporary donation banks operated in conjunction with the British Heart Foundation.  The banks had been located in Victoria Park, Queens Road, Thurlow Road, Briton Street and Jarrom Street for eight weeks.  It was not known if people other than students used these banks, as they could not be monitored continuously. 

A good infrastructure of donation banks, bring banks and waste collection services already existed across the city, along with enforcement services, so any potential future provision of additional donation banks would need to be carefully considered and, if though appropriate, targeted to ensure that resources were applied as effectively as possible.  It was anticipated that, as the extended bulky waste collection service for students had not been well used, the existing service of five items collected free of charge would be promoted at the end of the next university year, as in previous years, rather than repeating the enhanced scheme.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services noted that useful information, including on techniques and approaches, had been gathered from these campaigns, that it could be useful for the Commission to scrutinise.  This could be combined with the report on fly tipping that was scheduled to be considered at the Commission’s next meeting.

AGREED:

1)    That the work undertaken on student waste minimisation be noted and welcomed; and

2)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services be asked to include information gathered from the work undertaken on student waste minimisation, including on techniques and approaches and on the number of penalty notices issued, in the report on fly tipping to be considered at the next meeting of this Commission.