Islington council has opted to implement a ‘village principle’ for waste and recycling services, which will divide collection of the material by localised areas in a bid to increase efficiency.
The principle has been identified as one of a series of alternative measures aimed at reducing its overall spend on waste services, including the optimisation of its refuse and recycling rounds.
Under the new measures, the local authority has now agreed to implement more efficient vehicle collection rounds based on dividing collection routes by localised areas.
This ‘village principle’, according to the council, offers the same savings without changing the service for residents.
Islington council has agreed to create savings by adopting a ‘village principle’ for collections
And, the council has entered an inter-authority agreement with the North London Waste Authority and the six other constituent boroughs to reduce its overall waste disposal fees and incentivise more recycling.
Trial
During 2015, Islington carried out a pioneering trial involving 2,000 properties in is Tollington Ward. This saw on-street communal food waste bins placed close to homes while garden waste could be taken to collection points in parks replacing kerbside collections in the areas (see letsrecycle.com story).
The measure was set to be rolled out across the borough on a permanent basis this year, with the aim of saving £1 million per annum (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, the local authority revealed in its Waste Minimisation and Recycling Action Plan 2016/17, published in late September 2016, that it has decided “not to implement the proposed changes to food and garden waste collections, as other ways of achieving savings have been identified.”
While the council noted that the amount of food and garden waste collected under the trial was comparable to recycling levels from door-to-door collections, the savings would “not be as substantial as first projected”. In particular, it found that a communal system would require more vehicles than first anticipated, significantly reducing savings.
Residents in the pilot area reverted back to door-to-door collections for food and garden waste from 5 September, with the communal food and garden waste containers being removed.
New service
As an alternative way to cut costs, the council has now agreed to implement more efficient vehicle collection rounds based on a ‘village principle’. Services are being planned around six ‘villages’, giving collection staff and managers responsibility for refuse and recycling services in these localised areas. At present, each crew operates in different parts of the borough throughout the week.
The council noted that the “village principle proposal …delivers much of the required savings without changing the service-offer to residents.”
Another saving identified by the council is through the negotiation of a method of payment for waste disposal. Through an inter-authority agreement with the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) and the six other constituent boroughs, a system of ‘menu pricing’ has been introduced, meaning that Islington now pays a price for each tonne of waste it produces, with the price for recycled materials lower than the price for residual waste.
“This is an excellent new deal for the Council that will reduce its overall waste disposal fees and incentivise more recycling and waste minimisation”, the report noted.
The post Islington to adopt ‘village principle’ for collections appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
