Agenda item

Report ENV648 of Executive Manager Environment

(Enclosure)

The Executive Manager Environment presented report ENV654 on the provision of a trade waste collection service to business customers. The purpose of the report was to present a proposal to introduce a trade waste collection service in South Kesteven.  Members were being asked to consider the provision of a trade waste collection service to business customers, comment and support the recommendations in the detailed business case.

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990), the Council had a duty to arrange for the collection of commercial waste.  It was noted that currently, discharge of this duty was done by referring customers to private companies operating within the area. The EPA 1990 also imposed a legal responsibility of ‘‘any commercial activity’’ – whether run from home or its own premises – to manage the waste it produces.  In practice the requirement was for businesses to have trade waste agreements in place.

Many local authorities did provide a trade waste service that offered a good value to local businesses in their areas. Currently, the local commercial waste market was covered by four large providers operating from outside the area and one smaller business within Lincolnshire.

Therefore this offered an opportunity to build on the existing domestic waste collection services the council provided by introducing a collection service to commercial organisations. The majority of the infrastructure for delivering this business proposal was already in place.  This would be a hybrid model utilising existing assets and services. The only requirement would be for a small investment in employees. No significant start-up capital would be required.

Delivering a trade waste service in a commercial environment would be a new venture for the Council.  It would require any offer to be tailored to customer need in order to be successful. The confidential Business Case outlined the market research undertaken, the competition and the possible costs and associated sales.

A range of questions to assist in deciding whether it would be appropriate for the Council to enter a market had previously been considered by the Resources PDG and these were noted in Appendix 1 of the report.

Due to many influencing factors outside the council’s control it was not possible to determine the take up of any proposal but it was envisaged that the market would adjust should a new competitor emerge or prices fell. This could mean that the new service might initially lose potential income but the business community would benefit from lower prices. The only way to determine the level of demand would be to enter the market to see if it would be a sustainable new service.  There would be potential for offsetting costs.

The confidential business case fully outlined the benefits and risks of the proposal. The intention would be to utilise existing Councils services for the early phase of the initiative.

Members discussed the confidential Business Case and issues around the impact and risks of joining this particular market.  Members supported and agreed the proposal would be a suitable project to take forward.

Recommendation:

The recommendation in report number ENV654 was proposed, seconded and agreed subject to any caveats outlined during the PDGs debate.