Agenda item

It was proposed, seconded and AGREED to hear the Waste Policy Update next on the agenda.

The Waste Policy Update was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste.

The Refuse and Recycling Operational Policy document provided the residents of SKDC with an outline of the services provided and helped to manage their expectations regarding service delivery. Furthermore, it acted as a guide to decision-makers on how to handle issues and ensured that any problems were dealt with fairly and transparently.

The current Refuse and Recycling Operational Policy indicated a start time of

07:30am for collections. However, since the rounds were restructured in late 2025, each round could have around two more hours work to cover on residual collection weeks. Due to this increased workload, crews were regularly missing the deadline for final tipping at the Waste Transfer Station (WTS). Discussions with Lincolnshire County Council were productive and they agreed to open the WTS for an additional thirty minutes. This change would not mitigate the entire issue and to address this, SKDC agreed to explore moving the collection start time forward by 30 minutes to 07:00am.

This report also sought to change Bank Holiday working with a commencement date of Easter 2027. The following Bank Holidays were impacted: 

• Easter Monday,

• Early May Bank Holiday,

• Spring Bank Holiday, and

• Summer Bank Holiday.

It was recommended that the collections which fall on the Bank Holidays outlined above take place on the scheduled collection day. Staff would be paid at the same overtime rate as they were for the Saturdays, however, these days would be included within their contract and therefore the risk of service failure would be reduced.

An updated Draft Refuse and Recycling Operational Policy was included within Appendix One of the report.

During discussions, the following comments were made:

-       A Member noted a change within the policy relating to the timeframe that residents had to notify the Council of a missed bin and highlighted that this may cause an adverse impact on vulnerable residents who don’t use the internet. For this reason, the Member suggested maintaining the status quo. The Member also suggested offering a rebate for any residents whose bin had been missed during the recent heatwave. The Leader of the Council rebuked the suggestion of the rebate as fees were paid for the collection service across the year as a whole, rather than per collection. He also pointed out that the administration cost of calculating who would qualify and implementing the rebate would not make it financially viable.

-       The Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste acknowledged that under the intense working conditions during the heatwave there had inevitably been some instances of missed bins but recognised that waste crews navigate the logistical challenge of collecting approximately 100,000 bins a week across the district and only tend to see a 1-2% miss-rate. Furthermore, to assist vulnerable residents the Council operated an assistance scheme.

-       The Cabinet Member noted that Fixed Penalty Notices were an enforcement option but as a last resort. The Council’s approach was first to engage and educate but this relied on effective communication.

-       It was queried whether staff had been consulted about the new start time and bank holiday working. The Head of Waste Management and Markets Services confirmed that staff had been informally consulted about the start time and a formal consultation about the potential bank holiday working would be undertaken once committee had indicated a wish to do so. Staff had been informally consulted in the meantime.

-       A Member noted that the start time of 7.30am was already the latest in Lincolnshire.

Following discussions, it was proposed, seconded, and AGREED to recommend the updated Refuse and Recycling Operational Policy to

Cabinet.