Who voted in the borough's new recycling system - with just 832 consultation surveys completed

MORE information has come to light about the voting patterns of local reps and the consultation process surrounding the new recycling system being implemented in the borough in September.

The information is contained in the minutes of a meeting of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council held in October 2019, in a session closed to the public and Press.

There has been some opposition to the plans, which have been in the pipeline for six years, to replace blue bins in the legacy Antrim area with a wheelie box ‘triple stack’ system, which is already in operation in the Newtownabbey end of the borough.

A smaller black bin will also be provided.

Laura Moreland, a local resident who has speaheaded a campaign against the change, was due to meet with Michael Laverty, Director of Sustainability with the council, this week.

At a council meeting on Tuesday, members were due to hear that dedicated kerbside sort vehicles are now in production with delivery of first vehicles accepted. All 16 vehicles are due to be delivered on the week commencing September 1.

The phased rollout of the new collection service is still on target for the week commencing September 15, and it is envisaged that the services will be fully implemented after nine weeks.

The council is continuing to work with AWS (Amazon) to ‘establish a dedicated Customer Service assistant to support the Waste and Council customer service team during the project roll-out and provide residents with a 24-hour information service’.

While the council told the Antrim Guardian that 240 people attended eight public information sessions the latest report said that: “Officers hosted 22 information public drop-in information sessions across the legacy Antrim areas with approximately 370 people attending.”

In June 2019, members approved an economic appraisal and Equality Screening document for the provision of a 180L black bin collection service in legacy Antrim and the weekly collection of dry recyclables through a wheelie box (triple stack) container by an external organisation, subject to receipt of funding from Central Government with an estimated savings of £3 million over ten years.

They also approved the outsourcing of the residual waste collection services (black bins) in the legacy Antrim with estimated additional savings of £3 million over 10 years and reaffirmed a decision to have no compulsory redundancies nor imposed TUPE transfers to third party organisations.

The approvals were subject to a three month consultation period with residents, staff and Trade Unions to allow council to meet its employment obligations and provide the public with an opportunity to express their views on the proposed service change from blue bins to wheelie boxes with 180 litre black bins.

The minutes said: “Consultations had been completed with staff, trade unions and residents. The consultation period was initially due to end in September but at the request of the Trade Unions it was extended to the middle of October 2019.

“Immediately following the June council meeting a series of meetings were held at the operational depots with staff followed up by meetings with individuals.

“These provided staff with an opportunity to ask questions about the proposals and the potential implications for their roles. Officers also met with full time trade union officials and a summary of comments from the meeting were circulated.

“Officers carried out a comprehensive consultation with members of the public. This comprised a short survey which was available on the website and in the September edition of Borough Life.

“Face to face surveys were also carried out by council staff at events and various locations in the Borough during the consultation period.

“A total of 832 surveys/responses were completed.”

84% stated that they want to recycle more.

Of those not currently recycling glass, textiles or batteries, 61% said it was because there was no home collection;

With home collection an additional 10% stated that they would recycle glass, 9% more would recycle textiles and 15% would recycle batteries.

60% indicated that proposed changes provide sufficient capacity

The minutes continued: “The proposed service would provide the residents with greater recycling capacity and would increase the scope of the materials collected from households (glass, textiles, and household batteries).”

The council addressed some of the key areas of concern.

One was that ‘recycling levels will decrease if blue bins are replaced’.

The council said: “When wheelie boxes were introduced in Newtownabbey, the amount of recyclables collected increased by 10%, over 500 tonnes per annum.

“In addition, last year the wheelie boxes outperformed the blue bins, producing 50% more recyclables per household.”

There were concerns about the capacity of the boxes and smaller bins, mobility and suitability.

The council said: “The proposed wheelie box arrangements offer 25% more capacity than current arrangements.

“Additional units could be provided on request and overflow tote bags for specific types of materials could also be made available.

“In most cases, the 180 litre black bin will be sufficient for a household which is recycling.

“As is currently the case in legacy Newtownabbey, additional capacity can be provided (within the policy).

“The option for an assisted lift will continue to be available by application.

“36,000 are already in operation in legacy Newtownabbey

“Complaints have been comparatively few with, on average, less than 0.1%of collections being complained about from a total of 1.87m collections per year.

“Whilst council has not consulted in relation to the proposed outsourcing, as it is an operational matter, a number of respondents raised concerns.

“In total approximately two thirds of the waste collection services are outsourced at present and contracts are currently working well.

“Services have successfully been outsourced since 2013, and as recently as 2018 the collection of brown bins in Antrim and black bins in Newtownabbey has been successfully delivered through an external contractor. Using the example of a recently outsourced service, the collection of black bins in Newtownabbey, there has been an extremely positive experience with the standard of service provided by the contractor.

“There has been a significant reduction in the number of missed bins following the start of the collection contract.”

Citing the DAERA Household Waste Recycling Collaborative Change Programme, the report continued: “It is clear that projects which prioritise the quality of the material collected and whether or not the waste can be processed in Northern Ireland to the benefit of the local economy are key considerations.

“The wheelie boxes have much lower contamination rates than blue bins- typically 0.1% compared to 15%. In addition, approximately 85% of the materials collected in the wheelie box are reprocessed in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, retaining jobs and having a positive impact on the local economy.

“The collection of recycling materials in the blue bin would not meet the conditions of the grant.

“At present there are two distinct waste collection services operating in the Borough and the harmonisation of these services would result in the following benefits:

“Same service would be delivered to all residents;

“A single communications message for all recycling and waste services would be possible simplifying the issue for customers.

“Increased recycling rates as a result of introducing the wheelie boxes in the Antrim area.

“The preferred option also helps council to meet its waste management targets, approve requests for voluntary severance from waste staff, meet the requirements for successful application for funding from central government with the potential to leverage £2.5million to the Borough, and means that Council’s stated position of no compulsory redundancies and no TUPE transfers to external organisations stands.

“Members noted that, working with officials from the Department, the application to include funding (100%) for a project officer for a 1 year fixed term to ensure the smooth delivery of the implementation phase of the project, additional units and tote bags.

“In addition to an application for grant aid for the completion of harmonisation at around £2.5m, there was potential for grant funding (100%) for replacement vehicles to cover the collection of wheelie boxes in legacy Newtownabbey on a purchase and lease basis.

“The contract for the collection of dry recyclables in Newtownabbey finishes in October 2020 and at that stage, a contract could be tendered for the whole Borough, should approval be given to the recommendations– subject to a successful funding application.

“Council would provide the collection vehicles to the contractor, subject to a successful DAERA grant application, as this is deemed to be the most economically advantageous option. Transport costs, including vehicle purchase, make up approximately 25% of the overall service costs, eg. rate per household.

“If the council purchased the vehicles to the contractor through 100% grant funding, then the final contract rate would reflect this.

“As a result, Officers were proposing to include the provision of (nine) kerbside recycling vehicles for the collections service in Newtownabbey in the funding application.

“The provision of these vehicles could result in the potential cost saving of £250,000 per annum on current kerbside collection contract costs in legacy Newtownabbey. In order to achieve funding, council would need to demonstrate an increase in recyclables collected as the proposed vehicles would be replacing like for like vehicles .

“As a result, it was proposed to introduce an organics recycling service at flats and apartments that currently do not have the service, targeting an additional 100 tonnes of recyclables.

“The proposed vehicles will therefore include the potential to allow food waste collections and would also future proof council against any potential legislative changes in the collection of food and allow for possible additions to the scope of materials collected leading to greater recycling performance.”

Costs were redacted.

In terms of carbon benefits, it was noted that a study from WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) Cymru, a Government funded waste advisory body set up to promote sustainable waste management, compared the carbon impact of the three different kerbside collection systems utilised in Wales.

The report concluded that kerbside sort had the highest carbon benefit, and lowest impacts in terms of collection, post collection and MRF/transfer stages, followed by two stream, with co-mingled coming third.

The assessment considered the collection, waste transfer, waste sorting, onward transport and recycling benefits of all three systems.

The report concluded: “Taking all of the information from the consultation into account, the preferred option as it would allow council to:

“Achieve full harmonisation for the collection of waste both in terms of service and delivery;

“Implement a weekly kerbside glass, textiles and batteries collection service in Antrim;

“Increase levels of recycling;

“Produce high quality recyclate achieving greater market value, which meets Government objectives and provides greater market security;

“Have a single communications message for residents of recycling and

waste collection services;

“Maximise the potential of Government funding;

“Meet all outstanding staff severance requests in waste management;

“Reduce the financial impact of ongoing operating costs of the waste management fleet with the reduction in fleet size to approximately five 26 tonne Refuse Collection Vehicles;

“Have greater focus on street cleansing services.”

It was said that, in the event that council proceeds with the implementation, subject to the successful award of DAERA funding for the new scheme, officers would commence the procurement exercise to select a contractor to provide the collection service for the residual waste (black) bins in legacy Antrim and the dry recyclables (wheelie box) across the Borough.

An amendment was proposed by former Dunsilly SDLP Councillor Ryan Wilson, backed by party colleague Roisin Lynch of Antrim Town that: “The harmonisation of the kerbside collection of all recyclable and residual domestic waste, service and delivery, from households across the Borough as set out in Option 2 of the economic appraisal and associated Screening Form, namely; the provision of a 180L black bin collection service in legacy Antrim and, the weekly collection of dry recyclables through a wheelie box (triple stack) container delivered in house in legacy Antrim;

“With estimated savings of £2,608,980 subject to the award of funding from the Department of Agriculture, Environment, & Rural Affairs and the submission of a funding application to DAERA for the purchase of 9 kerbside collection vehicles to service the Newtownabbey households in the new dry recyclables collection contract at an estimated capital value of £1.4m;

“With potential cost savings of £250,000 per annum on the current kerbside collection contract costs, subject to the award of funding from the Department of Agriculture, Environment, & Rural Affairs and the reaffirmation of its decision to have no compulsory redundancies nor imposed TUPE transfers to third party organisations.”

On the proposal being put to the meeting, nine members voted in favour, 25 against and three abstentions, the amendment was declared not carried.

The original proposal was then put to the meeting, proposed by Alderman Mark Cosgrove of UUP and seconded by Alderman Tom Campbell of Alliance that: “The harmonisation of the kerbside collection of all recyclable and residual domestic waste, service and delivery, from households across the Borough as set out in Option 5A of the economic appraisal and associated Screening Form, namely; the provision of a 180L black bin collection service in legacy Antrim and, the weekly collection of dry recyclables through a wheelie box (triple stack) container by an external organisation in legacy Antrim; With estimated savings of £3 million subject to the award of funding from the Department of Agriculture, Environment, & Rural Affairs and; the outsourcing of the residual waste collection services (black bins) in legacy Antrim with estimated additional savings of £3 million over 10 years and; the submission of a funding application to DAERA for the purchase of 9 kerbside collection vehicles to service the Newtownabbey households in the new dry recyclables collection contract.

“With potential cost savings of £250,000 per annum on the current kerbside collection contract costs, subject to the award of funding from the Department of Agriculture, Environment, & Rural Affairs and; the variation of the existing waste collection contract for blue and black bins in legacy Antrim for a short period to allow staff who have expressed an interest to leave via the Voluntary Severance Scheme at estimated cost savings of up to £280,000; the reaffirmation of its decision to have no compulsory redundancies nor imposed TUPE transfers to third party organisations;

“Officers review how information in relation to waste is communicated to the public.”

On the proposal being put to the meeting, and a recorded vote having been requested by Councillor Wilson, 23 Members voted in favour, 13 against and 1 abstention.

Voting for were: Aldermen Fraser Agnew (former UUP, Three Mile Water), Phillip Brett (former DUP Glengormley) Tom Campbell (Three Mile Water), Mark Cosgrove (Glengormley), Danny Kinahan (former UUP, Ballyclare), then-Mayor, DUP Antrim Town rep John Smyth and Councillors Archibald (DUP, Ballyclare), Bennington (DUP Glengormley), Mark Cooper (DUP Three Mile Water), the late Glenn Finlay (former Alliance, Dunsilly), Sam Flanagan (DUP Three Mile Water), Robert Foster (UUP, Macedon), Julie Gilmour (Alliance, Three Mile Water), the late Paul Hamill (former DUP, Macedon), Julian McGrath (Alliance, Glengormley), Dean McCullough (former DUP, Macedon), Vera McWilliam (UUP, Ballyclare), Matthew Magill (DUP, Airport), Paul Michael (former UUP, Airport, now independent), Stephen Ross (DUP Three Mile Water), Michael Stewart (Independent, Ballyclare), Roderick Swann (former UUP, Dunsilly) and Billy Webb (Alliance, Macedon).

Voting against were Aldermen: Tommy Burns (formerly of SDLP for the Airport DEA), and DUP Dunsilly rep Linda Clarke and Councillors Henry Cushinan (Sinn Fein, Dunsilly), Paul Dunlop (DUP, Antrim Town), Michael Goodman (Sinn Fein, Glengormley), Neil Kelly (Alliance, Antrim Town), Rosie Kinnear (Sinn Fein, Glengormley), Anne Marie Logue (Sinn Fein, Airport), Roisin Lynch (SDLP, Antrim Town), Noreen McClelland (former SDLP, Glengormley), the late Jim Montgomery (former UUP, Antrim Town), Leah Smyth (now Kirkpatrick, UUP, Antrim Town), and Wilson.

Alderman Mandy Girvan abstained.