Minutes:
David Eaton, the Environmental Protection Manager for Teignbridge District Council, programme lead of ‘Zero Heroes’, led a presentation with Lizzie Burston, one of the recycling officers supporting the project. The project’s focus was on the Council’s response to Single-Use Plastic, as opposed to the general recycling service performance which had regular updates on the Clean Scene presented to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meetings. He commented on the changing perception of plastic as a disposable resource and of Teignbridge District Council’s efforts to eliminate single-use plastics across all of their sites by reducing waste and recycling more from all of the Council’s operations and buildings.
David Eaton outlined the work to date and referred to the ‘Zero Heroes’ project team, which, with colleagues from the Economy and Assets team were working together to audit and action a reduction of the level of single-use plastics such as plastic bottles and cups, coffee cups and lids, plastic cutlery, straws, bags, and even decanting cleaning products from larger containers. He highlighted a number of particular initiatives including the reduction of the use of the take-away cup working with the Seasoned Kitchen catering staff at Forde House by promoting the use of branded reusable cups which could easily be identified and collected back up.
Lizzie Burston updated Members on a number of projects including:-
· The Litter Innovation Fund in Teignmouth was part of a six month project funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to reduce marine litter from litter bins on the sea front and from general waste collections from properties on sack collections, with a trial of different containers in an effort to deter seagulls. Teignmouth was selected as it had the right mix of town and seafront. There were other opportunities to work with residents and local businesses to increase awareness and ultimately reduce green litter.
· A team had been working with volunteers to manage and prevent litter on the Back Beach at Teignmouth, with new signage and compartmentalised bins.
· A litter campaign had commenced to reduce litter particularly thrown from cars and highlighting the reporting and enforcement process.
· The Ocean Recovery Project was working with Exeter City Council to collect marine plastics and recycle at the Materials Recovery Facility in Exeter. Additional bins on beaches including an A Board promotion incorporating a litter picker and sacks to encourage a two minute beach clean. A request received from Councillor Clarence for the A Board in Shaldon to be replenished with sacks would be actioned. As part of this initiative, additional bins had been placed at the Fish Quay in Teignmouth to collect any recycling waste from local fishermen.
· The Resorts Team had also been working to make Teignmouth, plastic straw free with a commitment from local businesses for a reduction in use of over 30,000 straws.
· The Economy and Assets team and the Newton Abbot Town Centre Manager had been working to reduce the amount of single use cups and had considered the introduction of more branded reusable cups. However, feedback had indicated that many of the businesses were either already operating an informal arrangement or were concerned about the lifespan of a redeemable cup. More work would be done to promote all the available initiatives in the town.
· Other work with local supermarkets included initiatives such as the adoption of plastic free shopping aisles. Waitrose had responded and outlined a number of initiatives already in place as well as some prospective work on packaging at their store in Teignmouth. Contact with Tesco was also ongoing.
David Eaton outlined the next steps which included:–
· Continuing the audit of plastic across sites and further research into alternatives in an effort to reduce reliance on plastic wherever possible.
· Continue the Litter Innovation Fund project and extend to other areas if successful.
· Follow up the contact with local supermarkets to progress plastic free aisles and find out more about other initiatives in place and help to publicise, and
· Continue to deliver educational activities to inform and engage the public about the need to reduce plastic waste, particularly in relation to single use plastics. Planned activities included roadshows, social media e-bulletins and regular updates on the Teignbridge District Council web site.
He also responded to a number of Member comments including:-
· Confirmation that regular progress reports would be provided at the Overview & Scrutiny Committee via the Council’s Strategy Performance.
· The dimension of the contact details on the litter campaign posters was noted. The Council’s web site was an important point of contact and signposting.Officer support was available to individuals registering incidents of littering, offering guidance through the enforcement process.
· The request to extend the ban of balloons on Council land as a condition of use to the lit Chinese paper lanternswas noted.
· Teignmouth had been selected for the litter innovation project due to its urban proximity to the seaand if successful the initiative could be rolled out to other seaside towns, including Dawlish and Dawlish Warren.
· The comment on the increasing domestic litter in the street recycling would be passed onto Chris Braines, the Waste & Cleansing Manager.
· A copy of the presentation would be circulated to Members.
· The reporting mechanism of littering incidents included the action to be taken and outcomes. He had previously reported detail relating to littering offences and enforcement taken, but would reissue the detail through the Member’s newsletter.
· Bins were provided by the Harbour Authority on the Quay at Teignmouth for the disposal of rubbish from both the fishing and the leisure industry.
· The frequency of emptying a number of the Council’s public waste bins in busy locations was noted and he would work with officers. He also responded directly to a Member’s comment relating to statutory powers regarding managing litter outside of business premises and would respond to the Member.
Lizzie Burston responded to a Member’s comment on the educational lead on recycling for schools, and advised that Resource Futures, were an independent environmental consultancy business who worked in partnership with Devon County Council to engage communities and schools to learn to adopt more sustainable practices. She invited Councillors to contact her if they are going into school to talk about this issue to ensure that any content was compatible with the work that Resource Futures were already carrying out. She also responded to a comment on a promotion to wrap food waste before placing in the food waste caddies, making use of plastic wrapping such as from bread or cereal bags, which could otherwise be difficult to recycle, as well as paper or corn starch bags. Any opportunity to remove food waste from the domestic rubbish collection was a benefit.
The Chairman thanked David Eaton and Lizzy Burston for their informative presentation. A copy of the presentation would be circulated to Members.
It was proposed by Councillor G Hook that a working group on the wider issue of waste, as well single use plastics would prove be more beneficial, and he requested that the initial work should include a scoping exercise. This proposal was seconded by the Chairman.
Resolved that a working group on the wider issue of waste, as well single use plastics would be convened, and the initial work should include a scoping exercise.