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Best Value Review Waste

Objective 001 Create a Council Waste and Recycling Strategy

BVR 001.01

Research existing strategies, particularly among waste partnerships

01 Feb 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Research for Strategy has been completed and strategy is in final draft - awaiting approval by Cabinet in September 2010

BVR 001.02

Develop a short strategy for the Cabinet member for the environment to approve

01 Feb 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The Waste Strategy has now been approved by Cabinet.

BVR 001.03

Monitor strategy on a yearly basis

01 Apr 2011

30 Apr 2013

Jennifer Gosling

Objective 002 Ensure there is a fair distribution of recycling credits within Kent

BVR 002.01

Officers engage KCC with a view to obtaining financial support

01 Nov 2009

31 Mar 2011

Steve Goulette

Discussion held with KCC and over £500k achieved in grants. Ongoing work through the mid and west Kent group is seeking to bring together those authorities retendering in 2013 and has commissioned work to determine the business case and likely savings. Objective achieved.

BVR 002.02

Meet with representatives from other Kent districts to seek a fair distribution of KCC support

01 Jan 2010

31 Oct 2010

Steve Goulette

By working with KCC over £500k has been granted towards the food waste scheme. I am chairing a mid/west group looking at new contracts including on going KCC support.

The mid/West Kent has commissioned work to determine costs for each authority and has agreed a strategy to bring together those authorities due to re-tender in 2013.

Objective 003 Consider an alternate weekly waste collection and investigate a separate food waste service

BVR 003.01

Liaise with SITA over potential arrangements for an alternate weekly collection

01 Dec 2009

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Discussions have been taken into account for the waste strategy, with decision finalised on Friday 24th September 2010. The full implementation plan has been drafted and will remain a "live" document which will evolve through the work of the Project Board.

BVR 003.02

Research other Councils with food waste and alternative weekly collections to investigate their contracts, operational arrangements and approach to change.

01 Dec 2009

30 Jun 2010

Jennifer Gosling

A reference visit to Tunbridge Wells was arranged as well as Southend-on-Sea which operates a separate weekly food waste collection.

BVR 003.03

Pursue funding from WRAP to develop a trial food waste collection scheme

01 Dec 2009

31 Mar 2010

Steve Goulette

Funding from WRAP is confirmed. There are conditions to be agreed regarding the Kent Waste Partnership funding.

BVR 003.04

Liaise with Sita over the most suitable vehicle to use during the trial

01 Jan 2010

31 Mar 2010

Jennifer Gosling

A suitable vehicle for the food waste trial was identified within the existing fleet. Now the food waste scheme will be rolled out across the borough seven purpose-built vehicles will be used.

BVR 003.05

Liaise with SITA and WRAP over how the food waste collection scheme would operate including looking at the choice of containers

01 Jan 2010

30 Jun 2010

Jennifer Gosling

A separate food waste collection has been fully investigated and the proposal will be submitted as part of the Waste and Recycling Strategy. Changing Council priorities has resulted in the benefits of a food waste collection to only 7,000 properties being re-evaluated and a borough-wide solution will be rolled out by the end of January 2011. Suitable containers and collection vehicle have been identified.

BVR 003.06

Develop a communications strategy to manage the introduction of food waste collections

01 Apr 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The communications strategy has been developed with WRAP and Annika Fraser for the implementation of boroughwide food waste collections. This will remain a "live" document as it will develop further in response to feedback from residents as the scheme is introduced.

BVR 003.07

Implement the food waste and alternate weekly collection scheme

01 Oct 2010

31 Jan 2011

Jennifer Gosling

Through the development of the strategy, food waste is now going to be introduced borough-wide rather than in a trial area. Funding has been granted from both WRAP and the Kent Waste Partnership's SIP Fund for the implementation.

The caddy and external bin has been identified and procured through a compliant purchasing framework. These have been delivered to households and the new collections have started.

BVR 003.08

Implement a monitoring system for satisfaction and the amount of food waste tonnage collected

01 Nov 2010

31 Jan 2011

Jennifer Gosling

New customer satisfaction cards have been designed in light of the changes to the services provided. These will be used from 1st February following the start of the new service. Tonnage information will be provided by Kent County Council monthly and this will be recorded with the other waste tonnages to provide monthly information regarding the recycling rate and tonnage collected per household.

BVR 003.09

Hold a focus group with participants to assess the success of the scheme

01 Jul 2011

31 Jul 2011

Jennifer Gosling

BVR 003.10

Review the success of the alternate weekly and food waste scheme and report back to Cabinet member

01 Apr 2011

31 Oct 2011

Jennifer Gosling; Jonathan Scott

BVR 003.11

Determine whether a food waste and/or alternate weekly collection should be considered as part of the new waste contract

01 Oct 2011

30 Jan 2012

Jennifer Gosling; Jonathan Scott

Objective 004 Expand bring sites and facilities for recycling glass and other recyclable material

BVR 004.01

Arrange the removal of can banks

01 Dec 2009

30 Jan 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The can banks were removed at the end of December 2009 and information regarding the recycling sites throughout the borough was amended on the website.

BVR 004.02

Monitor sites to ensure that cans are not left in the sites of former can banks, monitor contact with residents to ensure satisfaction with the service is maintained

30 Jan 2010

31 Mar 2010

Jennifer Gosling; Alisa Maguire

Completed. Monitoring will be ongoing and is therefore a service plan issue now.

BVR 004.03

Undertake an audit of all recycling bank sites to ensure a balance is provided across the borough

01 Jun 2010

30 Jun 2010

Alisa Maguire

An audit has been undertaken and a programme of future site inspections will be carried out monthly. As a result old paper banks have been replaced with new, and site signage has been updated.

  New glass bottle banks (clear, brown and green) and a paper bank have been installed at Maidstone Leisure Centre and permission granted for a new site at Brunswick Street car park.

BVR 004.04

Work with the planning department and interested groups to develop a proforma to identify land appropriate for bring sites

01 Jan 2010

31 Oct 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The information for the proforma has been gathered however due to the implementation of the food waste collections this has had to be delayed until the implementation is complete. The proforma will be distributed by end of March 2011.

BVR 004.05

Identify additional sites across the borough to provide additional banks (mainly for glass)

01 Jul 2010

31 Jan 2011

Alisa Maguire

New banks have been installed for glass at Maidstone Leisure Centre and Senacre Square. Some identified sites could not be proceeded due to objections from residents i.e.Brunswick car park. Nine Music/book banks installed at sites across the Borough.

BVR 004.06

Pursue a pilot of Tetrapak banks in the borough

01 Apr 2010

28 Feb 2011

Jennifer Gosling

The sites have been approved by the Cabinet Member, however Tetrapak have notified the council that unfortunately they have not yet received confirmation that the funding will continue next year. Therefore the installation of the bins will be delayed until there is a guarantee that funding will extend the project to the end of 2011. Tetrapak banks throughout the country remain a trial scheme and therefore joining this trial means that there is a risk that when funding ceases the banks may have to be removed.

BVR 004.07

Develop a programme of recycling bank audits

01 Sep 2010

30 Sep 2010

Jennifer Gosling

This was prepared by the Waste Reduction Officer, including inspection sheets with detailed maps and photos of every site.

BVR 004.08

Review success of Tetrapak bank pilot and investigate future options for disposal of Tetrapaks

01 Jul 2011

31 Aug 2011

Jennifer Gosling

BVR 004.09

Review options for recycling other materials at bring sites e.g. batteries

01 Aug 2011

30 Sep 2011

Jennifer Gosling

Objective 005 Provide residents with an easy to use bulky collection service with an improved pricing structure

BVR 005.01

Review and develop a new charging framework for the bulky waste service including exploring a reduction in cost for people on benefits

01 Jan 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling; Paul O'Grady

A new pricing framework was approved as part of the Fees and Charges Report – July 2010.

BVR 005.02

Propose a new charging framework for bulky items and consider a reduction in cost for people on benefits

01 Feb 2010

30 Jun 2010

Jennifer Gosling

A simplified pricing framework for the bulky collection service was proposed as part of the Report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services for Review of Fees and Charges. This was agreed on 2nd July 2010 and the new pricing structure will be implemented from 2nd August 2010.

BVR 005.03

Liaise with Sita over the future operation of the freighter service

01 Apr 2011

30 Jun 2010

The new freighter service operation was agreed as part of fees and charges report.

BVR 005.04

Liaise with the communication team over the operation of the freighter service

01 May 2010

30 Jun 2010

The new freighter service operation was agreed as part of fees and charges report.

BVR 005.05

Liaise with Environmental Health over the operation of  the freighter service

01 May 2010

30 Jun 2010

The new freighter service operation was agreed as part of fees and charges report.

BVR 005.06

Set a timetable for the implementation of any changes to the freighter service

01 Jul 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The proposed changes for the Weekend Freighter Service were approved by the Cabinet Member on 2nd July 2010 and the new schedule will start on 21st August. Other changes including no longer accepting garden waste will be implemented from this date. From this date the service will be operated on Saturdays only and sites in close proximity are scheduled accordingly to reduce the carbon impact on the service.

BVR 005.07

Introduce a method for improved recording of bulky items

01 Jul 2010

30 Nov 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Due to changes in the refuse service and implementation of the new food waste collections, priority for updates to the CRM system for logging residents’ requests has been given to the new services. Therefore the improved method for recording the bulky items booked through this system will be pursued following the roll out of the new services in March 2011.

BVR 005.08

Audit the items on the bulky waste vehicle for reuse

01 Feb 2011

01 May 2011

Jennifer Gosling

Originally it had been hoped that this would have been started sooner, however with the decision to implement borough wide food waste collections the audit of bulky items has been postponed until the roll out of the new service is complete.

BVR 005.09

Investigate other different methods of reuse available to the Council, including researching the different methods used by other councils

01 Apr 2011

31 May 2011

Jennifer Gosling

This has been incorporated into the council's waste strategy and reuse opportunities will be explored further over the next 6 months.

BVR 005.10

Discuss with other Kent districts the opportunities for partnerships for reuse of bulky goods and the potential for reducing costs

01 Feb 2012

30 Jun 2012

Jennifer Gosling; Jonathan Scott

BVR 005.11

Identify potential partnerships with third sector groups for the collection of reusable items

01 Oct 2011

30 Apr 2012

Alisa Maguire

BVR 005.12

Liaise with potential contractors as to the best method to collect and distribute reusable items

01 Feb 2012

30 Jun 2012

Jennifer Gosling; Jonathan Scott

BVR 005.13

Identify the best method of reuse of bulky items and pursue partnerships if appropriate with third sector groups developing a trial programme of the reuse of bulky goods

01 Mar 2013

31 Aug 2013

Jennifer Gosling

Objective 006 Encourage greater home composting for green waste

BVR 006.01

Research new national composter schemes, investigate other schemes operated by other Councils with garden centres and/or composter suppliers, and discuss possibility of partnerships with other Kent councils

01 Jan 2010

28 Feb 2010

Jennifer Gosling

A new national framework was created by WIN (Waste Improvement Network) which the council has now signed up to.

BVR 006.02

Determine the best course of action in supplying composters to residents within Maidstone

01 Mar 2010

31 Mar 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The new framework offered the best value for money for Maidstone residents.

BVR 006.03

Research the cost of the supplying biodegradable sacks instead of the current sacks provided and the additional costs of replacing the existing garden waste sacks currently available

01 Feb 2010

31 Oct 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The compostable bags have now been delivered to retailers and the green plastic sacks will be phased out by the end of December 2010.

BVR 006.04

Review the arrangements for selling garden waste sacks and ensure that a policy is in place that supports the Council's waste and recycling strategy

01 May 2010

31 Oct 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The new compostable bags have now been received and delivered to all retailers.

Details of how to become a garden waste retailer have been added to the website to increase the number of retailers within the borough.

BVR 006.05

Review the policy to ensure that it is operating successfully

01 May 2011

30 Nov 2011

Alisa Maguire

BVR 006.06

Develop a promotional scheme of the council's garden waste service outlining the benefits to residents and the borough of using the scheme

01 Mar 2010

31 Oct 2010

Jennifer Gosling

The garden waste scheme will be promoted alongside the introduction of the food waste collections and changes to the refuse collection. Information about the change to compostable bags has been distributed through the Borough Update, press releases and the retailers. The increase in price of the compostable bags has resulted in the garden bins becoming more cost effective to residents and therefore their promotion will remain the focus of any communications with residents.

BVR 006.07

Consider whether promotional work should continue on the garden waste scheme through to the start of the new contract in 2013.

01 Feb 2011

01 Feb 2013

Jennifer Gosling

Service has been changed due to identified cost efficiencies and therefore publicity is ongoing.

BVR 006.08

Review the new composter scheme to assess whether it is providing best value for residents and the Council

01 Feb 2011

30 Apr 2011

Jennifer Gosling

Monthly sales figures have shown a sharp increase in the uptake of compost bins since the information was included in the new recycling calendar. Whilst uptake remains high the scheme will not be considered for cancellation and monthly figures will continue to be monitored.

Objective 007 Make better use of technology to enable residents to access information and services and improve reporting

BVR 007.01

Liaise with Sita to discuss the cost of utilising new technology to record collection issues whilst on route

01 Nov 2009

30 Jun 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Sita have provided costs for introducing this technology which are higher than expected. A trial of cheaper equipment is currently being undertaken.

BVR 007.02

Research the cost of purchasing technology to utilise on the collection vehicles to record collection issues in real time

01 Nov 2009

30 Jun 2010

Jennifer Gosling

As above.

BVR 007.03

Determine the best course of action for the council to pursue to better collect and process information in real time

01 Mar 2010

31 Aug 2010

Jennifer Gosling

A pilot of real time technology is currently underway.

BVR 007.04

Pursue in cab reporting as part of the new waste contract

01 Jan 2012

31 Aug 2013

Jennifer Gosling; Jonathan Scott

BVR 007.05

Review, update and improve the text and navigation on the waste and recycling pages of the website

01 Feb 2010

31 Jul 2010

Alison Sollis

New web site structure in place, all pages updated.

BVR 007.06

Review and update the text currently on the website relating to packaging and develop to ensure that the latest information is available including information on how residents can influence the use of packaging.

01 Feb 2010

30 Sep 2010

Alison Sollis

All web pages have been updated.

BVR 007.07

Increase the number of web-based transactions that can be completed on line e.g. paying for garden waste bins, reporting missed bins, ordering and paying for bulky collections, ordering garden sacks etc.

01 Apr 2010

30 Nov 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Online bin ordering has been improved and missed bins can now be reported online. This has led to an increased number of web transactions. However, some processes are still not online because of the delay of the purchase of a payment portal which will allow transactions to include the payment of garden bins and the booking of bulky collections. The payment portal has now been purchased and is being trialled.

BVR 007.08

Review and update the text on the both bring sites and the household waste and recycling sites throughout the county

01 Feb 2010

31 Jul 2010

Alison Sollis

All web pages have been updated.

BVR 007.09

Review on a regular basis the information on the waste and recycling pages to ensure the latest information is available

01 Aug 2010

31 Aug 2013

Elizabeth Hazell

An initial review has been completed. The ongoing work will therefore be added to the service plan.

Objective 008 Facilities are promoted more extensively and plans for an additional household waste and recycling centre are pursued with the County Council

BVR 008.01

Revisit plans for an additional Household Waste recycling Centre (HWRC) with KCC

01 Oct 2010

31 Oct 2010

Steve Goulette

No status change at present, however the action has been undertaken.

BVR 008.02

Take further steps to highlight to residents the facilities in neighbouring boroughs when they live on the borough boundaries.

01 Feb 2010

31 Mar 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Details of Household Waste Recycling Facilities in neighbouring boroughs are provided to residents enquiring about services and details are on the website.

BVR 008.03

Seek support for an additional centre on the Maidstone/Tonbridge & Malling border

01 Oct 2010

31 Oct 2010

Steve Goulette

This has been discussed with KCC and there are no plans at present for a new site. This will be discussed further with TMBC but is a long term objective.

Objective 009 Investigate options for the collection of commercial waste

BVR 009.01

Create a profile of current commercial waste arrangements in the borough

01 Apr 2011

31 Jul 2011

Jennifer Gosling

The work looking at commercial waste collections will be carried out following the roll out of the food waste scheme.

BVR 009.02

Undertake a market assessment of the waste collection operations in the borough

01 Apr 2011

31 Jul 2011

Jennifer Gosling

BVR 009.03

Research the range of commercial waste collection options available to the council including what services council provide nationally to local business

01 Apr 2011

30 Sep 2011

Jennifer Gosling

BVR 009.04

Liaise with Kent districts on the opportunities for partnerships on commercial collections

01 Oct 2011

31 Dec 2011

Jennifer Gosling

BVR 009.05

Determine the best option available including whether commercial waste should form part of the new waste contract and develop a business case taking into account the waste and recycling strategy and achieving value for money

01 Dec 2011

31 Dec 2011

Jennifer Gosling

Options are currently being developed for the collection of commercial waste in 2011/12 and inclusion of the service in the new waste contract from 2013. Business case will be developed following the implementation of the separate weekly food waste collections in January 2011 to take account of any spare capacity for commercial food waste collections and other opportunities.

Objective 010 Robust monitoring arrangements for partnerships are established with a greater focus on the outcomes achieved

BVR 010.01

Undertake further analysis of partnerships already in place and whether they have potential to develop

01 Oct 2011

31 Jan 2012

Jennifer Gosling

BVR 010.02

Review potential partnerships that the council could access

01 Oct 2011

31 Jan 2012

Alisa Maguire

Rolling review every 3 months

BVR 010.03

Develop performance measures to assess the performance of existing and future partnerships

01 Nov 2011

30 Apr 2012

Jennifer Gosling

Substantial monitoring arrangements are in place for the existing waste partnership contract and further indicators will be developed for the new contract especially if a partnership with neighbouring authorities is pursued.

BVR 010.04

Undertake an assessment of the waste and recycling service and whether any part of it can be subcontracted to partners

01 Jan 2012

31 Jan 2012

Jennifer Gosling

The current waste contract is continually under review and improvements for the new contract being recorded for consideration during the procurement process. Opportunities to subcontract the clinical collections are currently being discussed with Sita UK and Kent County Council. Identification of opportunities within the commercial waste sector is also raising options to subcontract or carry out collections directly.

BVR 010.05

Meet with Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge and Malling Councils to discuss the future of the cardboard service

01 Jan 2010

31 Jan 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Meeting held and exit strategy developed.

BVR 010.06

Develop a precautionary exit strategy from cardboard service

01 Jan 2010

31 Jan 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Exit strategy developed.

BVR 010.07

Monitor the progress of the East Kent Project and the progress of the Joint Waste Authorities

01 Sep 2010

31 Aug 2013

Steve Goulette

No longer relevant as a business case is being prepared for Mid/West Kent Partnership.

BVR 010.08

Provide a quarterly update on the progress of the East Kent project and the joint waste partnerships

01 Aug 2010

31 Aug 2013

Jennifer Gosling

No longer relevant as a business case is being prepared for Mid/West Kent Partnership.

BVR 010.09

Engage with and monitor developments within the Joint Waste Partnership

01 Aug 2010

31 Aug 2013

Steve Goulette

No longer relevant as a business case is being prepared for Mid/West Kent Partnership.

BVR 010.10

As part of the new waste and recycling contract identify the need for contractor participation with the identification of service improvement and efficiencies

01 Jan 2012

30 Jun 2012

Jennifer Gosling; Jonathan Scott

This is likely to be fundamental to either an individual or partnership contract for 2013 and will be discussed as part of the procurement process.

Objective 011 Review the potential for a kerbside sorting system (particularly in rural areas) with the introduction of the new waste collection contract

BVR 011.01

Undertake a review of current arrangements assessing rates, satisfaction and other services provided across Kent

01 May 2011

31 Jan 2012

Jennifer Gosling

To be started later in year

BVR 011.02

Ensure that potential contractors provide the Council with costings for a kerbside sort system, including examining a separate glass collection scheme

01 Oct 2012

31 Oct 2012

Jennifer Gosling

The business case for a partnership contract with neighbouring Kent authorities is currently being prepared. This is considering the optimum waste solutions within Kent should authorities agree to enter into a partnership contract. Determination of how this will progress will decide whether individual or partnering specifications will be prepared for the procurement of the new contract.

BVR 011.03

Undertake a comparison of collection methods to ensure the best provision for Maidstone residents; looking at the waste hierarchy and costs

01 Jun 2011

31 Jan 2012

Jennifer Gosling

A full review of collection methods and options as part of the current collection contract was carried out through the development of the waste strategy. This identified separate weekly collections with fortnightly refuse collections as the most effective option for Maidstone residents. However for the new contract in 2013, improvements to the efficiencies of these collections through improved collection methods will be identified.

Objective 012 Ensure that education and promotion work is targeted with monitorable outcomes

BVR 012.01

Undertake a review of the education and promotion action plan including reviewing the relationship with local press

01 Feb 2010

31 Jul 2010

Alison Sollis

Regular PR meetings undertaken internally and education / promotion plan developed by Education Officer.

BVR 012.02

Use Mosaic and survey information to develop actions within the education and promotion action plan

01 Mar 2010

31 Oct 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Mosaic data is being used to inform the education plan for the new food waste collections as well as to reduce contamination of the mixed recycling. Work is being undertaken in partnership with Kent County Council to identify areas of higher contamination and how this can be addressed based on Mosaic profiling. Going forward, Mosaic will be used to highlight issues with particular household types and areas and communications will be targeted to maximise recycling uptake and minimise household waste.

BVR 012.03

Develop a new action plan to 2013

01 Apr 2010

28 Feb 2011

Alison Sollis

Education plan could not be implemented until decision taken on service improvements, work priorities are now with the promotion and roll out of the food waste collections. Action plan completion date now end February 2011.

BVR 012.04

Develop a range of impact measures to monitor targeted intervention

01 Nov 2010

30 Apr 2011

Alison Sollis; Clare Wood

A survey has been designed to monitor the effectiveness of educational activities carried out in schools. This survey will be sent home with children approximately one month after an educational workshop to identify the impact of the workshop on recycling within the home. The results from the survey will be used to identify whether educational workshops should be continued and if so to identify what areas should be focussed on.

BVR 012.05

Hold a focus group meeting at the end of the first complete year of the dry recyclable scheme

01 Jun 2010

30 Sep 2010

Jennifer Gosling

This has been delayed by the introduction of the new food waste collection service. This will be combined with a focus group regarding the food waste collections and change to fortnightly refuse collection and will be carried out in July 2011.

BVR 012.06

Use Mosaic to assess whether education and promotion work has influenced behaviour

01 Nov 2010

31 Mar 2011

Jennifer Gosling; Georgia Hawkes

Mosaic cannot be used to assess whether the waste and recycling education and promotion work has influenced behaviour. However, it is possible to use Mosaic to try and target the types of education and promotion work would be most likely to get people to recycle more and throw away less. Work is currently ongoing using Mosaic to target communications around the new food waste collection service. The impact of education interventions and initiatives will be assessed separately as at BVR 012.07 below.

BVR 012.07

Undertake a 6 monthly review of progress against the education and promotion action plan using Mosaic to assess whether education and promotion work has influenced behaviour.

01 Oct 2011

31 Oct 2011

Alison Sollis

Education plan has changed radically once announced food waste collections would go ahead in October 2010. New plan being worked on but will not realistically be completed until new service roll out complete at end of February 2011.

BVR 012.08

Use existing promotional tools to develop a DVD which shows the full lifecycle of waste

01 Sep 2010

30 Apr 2011

Alison Sollis

A new DVD was developed to reflect the changes to the waste services and this includes footage of the recycling and composting process, however had to limit the duration of the DVD so full lifecycle information could not be included as originally planned. Difficulties also arise in the fact that changeable markets for recycling mean specific information regarding exact locations for materials are not available.

Objective 013 Improve understanding of the profile of calls to the service

BVR 013.01

Quarterly undertake a review of all calls to the environmental services team within a week to assess the different types of calls

01 Apr 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling; Paul O'Grady

Customer interactions for Environmental Services were measured by using data from the Customer Relationship Management system, this was more reliable than reviewing calls as it excluded repeat callers and gave a truer picture of what services were being requested.

BVR 013.02

Use the information provided by the contact centre to establish an indication of the number of calls received in an average week and the percentage of calls received to environmental services which are waste and recycling

01 Apr 2010

31 Oct 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Full profile of calls has been identified and a dedicated waste telephone number has been created to monitor the calls for the new food waste collection service. Bulky collections remains the highest level of calls and work is being undertaken to divert some of these calls onto the website through an online booking service.

BVR 013.03

Using random sampling as a basis, establish whether the waste and recycling service requires an individual option/number and whether this would provide value for money

01 Jun 2011

30 Jun 2011

Paul O'Grady

A separate telephone number for Waste and Recycling queries has been introduced.

BVR 013.04

Undertake analysis using Mosaic of all contacts to the Council on waste and recycling

01 Nov 2010

31 Mar 2011

Jennifer Gosling; Georgia Hawkes

Experian, the company who make Mosaic, are undertaking some work for the Council to see what types of people contact the Council about what services and how they make contact e.g. phone, visit etc. This includes contacts about waste and recycling. A report is due in February 2011.

Objective 014 Increase opportunities to access funding and participate in innovative schemes

BVR 014.01

Identify relevant organisations that can supply funding and/or piloting opportunities

01 Aug 2010

30 Aug 2010

Jennifer Gosling

A review of all the funding opportunities was carried out as part of the waste strategy. Additional funding from WRAP and the Kent Waste Partnership SIP fund was applied for and awarded in July 2010. Further work is ongoing with WRAP to access different funding and support opportunities they offer including crew training, member/officer workshops and communications. In addition, the funding opportunity from Tetrapak has been progressed and an outcome is expected shortly.

BVR 014.02

Set up a rolling review of identified organisations

01 Aug 2010

31 Oct 2010

Alisa Maguire

Identified relevant organisations that can supply funding and/or piloting opportunities. A report produced with a table of organisations identified and requirements to access funding. A rolling review of identified organisations is undertaken every 3 months.

BVR 014.03

Apply for funding from WRAP and KWP for food waste scheme

01 Aug 2010

30 Sep 2010

Alisa Maguire

£170,000 funding awarded from WRAP and £358,000 from KWP

BVR 014.04

Monitor the success of applications for funding from WRAP and KWP for food waste scheme

01 Sep 2010

31 Mar 2011

Alisa Maguire

Applications for funding from KWP and WRAP were successful

BVR 014.05

Monitor the success of applications and results of successful bids.

01 Aug 2010

31 Jul 2013

Alisa Maguire

£170,000 funding awarded from WRAP and £358,000 from KWP

Objective 015 Review future targets in line with the development of the service and the contribution that the Council can make towards the Kent targets in the Local Area Agreement 3

BVR 015.01

Review the increase in recycling since the roll out of the new dry recyclables scheme.

01 May 2010

30 Sep 2010

Alisa Maguire

Tonnage monitored monthly and inputed into waste data flow quarterly. Information gathered regarding participation and tonnages from the new recycling scheme has been used to develop the Council waste and recycling strategy and the communication campaign.

Participation monitoring has identified that on average 73% of Maidstone households participate in recycling. The total waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting was 24.54% 2007/08 (pre roll out of the mixed dry recycling Phase 1 in 2008/09). The recycling rate increased by 2.93% to 27.47% 2008/09, and by a further 3.16% to 30.63% 2009/10. A total increase of 6.09%.

BVR 015.02

Undertake comparisons with Councils with higher recycling rates to assess the likelihood of improving recycling rates

01 May 2010

30 Apr 2011

Alisa Maguire

A report has been written comparing the top five councils to assess Maidstone’s likelihood of increasing recycling rates 2009/10. 4 out of 5 of the top five performing councils are achieving >60% reuse, recycling and composting rate. All authorities have fortnightly waste collections, separate food waste collections and mixed dry recycling (including glass), and provide a garden waste collection service. Maidstone is introducing weekly food waste collections and fortnightly residual waste collections from 31st January 2011to 58,000 households and is increasing the number of recycling sites for provision of glass bottle banks as a priority.

BVR 015.03

Give consideration to the work undertaken on the scheme and since the best value review how the service will develop and recycling rates will increase.

01 May 2010

30 Apr 2011

Alisa Maguire

As a result of the BVR the Council has prepared and adopted a five year Waste Strategy. This Strategy shows the overall direction in which the council intends to develop the waste services and highlights the importance of waste prevention and reuse. In addition modelling of the new services has projected a recycling rate of 50% by 2015 through the introduction of the food waste collections, bulky reuse, increased diversion of glass and improvements to the materials collected at recycling sites.

BVR 015.04

Investigate likely targets for the Kent Waste partnership and Kent Agreement Three

01 Apr 2010

30 Apr 2011

Steve Goulette

The Kent waste strategy is being refreshed and the partnership has received funding from Defra to start the process. This will lead to an updated strategy and targets for the partnership which could be used to support a Kent Agreement 3 if there is one.

BVR 015.05

Discuss the realistic targets that should be set for the next three years.

01 Feb 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling; Jonathan Scott

Targets for the next 3 years have been identified and added to Covalent.

Objective 016 Ensure that the new waste and recycling contract is environmentally friendly and contributes to reduced levels of Co2

BVR 016.01

Liaise with SITA to collect up to date information on the current service and arrange a method of receiving up to date information

01 Feb 2010

28 Feb 2010

Jennifer Gosling

GPS equipment has now been installed in 3 vehicles as this is being used to profile the 3 services. Information about round structure and in particular idling time is currently being captured.

BVR 016.02

Undertake analysis of the performance of the current service

01 Apr 2010

30 Apr 2010

Jenny Hunt

This work is now being undertaken and reported on a 6 monthly basis

BVR 016.03

Undertake comparative work as the service develops

01 Apr 2010

30 Apr 2013

Jenny Hunt

The service is monitored every 6 months as part of the Council's Carbon Footprinting requirements. In addition, for the Maidstone Borough Service vehicles, monthly comparison graphs have been produced to monitor the service in greater detail. Furthermore, a rolling fleet replacement programme is in place which will ensure that the vehicles used by the service are as efficient as possible, and that the service is operated by the optimum number of vehicles.

BVR 016.04

Discuss with SITA actions that are or could be taken to improve the environmental impact of the current operation

01 Feb 2010

31 Jan 2011

Jenny Hunt

A number of service improvements have been either recently initiated or are due to be implemented shortly the waste service which will improve the environmental impact of the current operation. These include the introduction of compostable bags on the garden waste service, a reduction in the weekend freighter service and the introduction of bi-weekly collections and food waste collections.

BVR 016.05

Monitor the use of environmentally friendly vehicles and fuels by waste contractors and councils and their success inpreparation for the new contract

01 Jan 2010

31 Jan 2012

Jenny Hunt

A large amount of work has been carried out looking into more efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles and the application of these across the Country to help inform the Council with respect to the new Contract specification. In addition, this work is feeding into the fleet replacement programme for the Maidstone Borough Service vehicles.

BVR 016.06

Ensure that consideration is given to environmental impact in the new contract specification including piloting new environmentally friendly vehicles/fuels

01 Jan 2012

31 Jan 2012

Jenny Hunt

The work undertaken for BVR 016.05 will help to inform this work and enable suitable and appropriate requirements to be included in the new contract specification when it is written.

Objective 017 Implement a clinical waste service that meets the increasing need of local residents

BVR 017.01

Explore the opportunities for increasing the service

01 Jan 2010

28 Feb 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Collections were increased to two days per week from 1st April 2010. This has reduced the waiting time from 5 weeks to one week for those using the ad-hoc clinical waste service.

BVR 017.02

Undertake discussions with health suppliers and KCC about how the service can be improved as more people are supported in the community rather than in nursing homes

01 Jan 2011

31 Mar 2011

Jennifer Gosling

The Council offers clinical collections to all residents who are supported within the community and has increased the number of collections per week to accommodate the growing need. Kent County Council has supported this development in service by providing adequate disposal for the waste collected.

BVR 017.03

Investigate partnership opportunities across the county as part of the Kent Waste Partnership for the provision of clinical waste service collection

01 Mar 2010

31 Jan 2012

Jennifer Gosling

A meeting is planned with Kent County Council to discuss realistic opportunities for clinical waste collections and disposal following the end of the partnership with Dover.

Objective 018 Introduce a paper collection service

BVR 018.01

Through discussions with Sita, identify methods for the collection of paper using existing vehicles

01 Nov 2009

30 May 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Discussions held, but decision taken not to proceed with a separate paper collection service currently.

BVR 018.02

Hold meeting with Aylesford Newsprint to discuss the Council’s initial thoughts on the service

01 Jan 2010

28 Feb 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Meeting held

BVR 018.03

Discuss the approach to a paper collection contract with the Procurement team

01 Mar 2010

01 May 2010

Jennifer Gosling; Steve Trigg

Draft procurement timetable prepared.

BVR 018.04

Identification of collection method and costs for various container options

01 Mar 2010

31 May 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Options identified for future approval.

BVR 018.05

Undertake consultation with third parties on existing paper collections in operation

01 Mar 2010

30 Sep 2010

Jennifer Gosling

Separate paper collections are not currently being pursued and therefore consultation with the third party paper collections is not required.

BVR 018.06

Communications strategy to manage the re-introduction of the paper collections and public perception of this initiative

01 Mar 2010

31 May 2010

Annika Fraser; Jennifer Gosling

As a decision has been made not to progress with a separate paper collection at this time, this action will be replaced by BVR 018.10.

BVR 018.07

Identify whether borough-wide or part borough collections are most cost effective

01 Mar 2010

31 May 2010

Jennifer Gosling

This has been investigated and borough-wide collections are the most cost effective.

BVR 018.08

Implement the new paper collection scheme

01 Mar 2010

31 Jul 2010

Jennifer Gosling

As a decision has been made not to progress with a separate paper collection at this time, this action will be replaced by BVR 018.10.

BVR 018.09

Undertake review of success of new paper collection scheme

01 Mar 2010

31 Jul 2010

Carol Meakins

As a decision has been made not to progress with a separate paper collection at this time, this action will be replaced by BVR 018.10.

BVR 018.10

Investigate options for kerbside collection of paper and materials only currently recyclable at bring sites as part of the new contract

01 Oct 2011

31 Jan 2012

Jennifer Gosling