Agenda item

To consider the current position in respect of trade waste and to determine monitoring arrangements of the action plan for further developing the service.

84.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Head of Community Services, circulated at Pages No. 57-66, which set out the current position in respect of trade waste.  Members were asked to consider the report and to determine monitoring arrangements of the action plan for further developing the service.

84.2          The Head of Community Services explained that the report gave a position statement on the Council’s trade waste service and it was noted that it currently operated at a small deficit.  There were several options for future development of the service and the action plan, attached at Appendix 2 to the report, showed how this could be achieved.  Notwithstanding this, it should be borne in mind that there were limitations; whilst there was some capacity within the service to facilitate additional customers, this only equated to around three or four days per month so another vehicle would be needed if the service expanded significantly – there were options for this but there would clearly be cost implications.  In the short term, it had been established that an additional 70 customers were needed for the service to break-even and a number of actions were proposed to achieve this such as a marketing campaign which included a trade waste leaflet being sent out with the National Non-Domestic Rate bills in early March.  The Council’s current customer base had been mapped on the system so it would be possible to identify other businesses in the vicinity which were not currently Council customers and they could then be targeted.  Discussions were also taking place with partners - Ubico was coming up with a proposal for delivering a better service and Cheltenham Borough Council was keen to work closely together so both options were being explored alongside direct marketing.

84.3          A Member indicated that this report had been requested some time ago as it was quite apparent that the Council’s trade waste service was not as good as it could be.  He felt that it should not be too difficult to identify an additional 70 customers and considered that partnership working would be the best way forward.  Another Member had noticed that Ubico was not the only provider collecting commercial waste– she had seen at least two other branded vehicles going to the same shops to make collections in her Ward – so there were certainly opportunities for the Council to enlist new customers.  The Lead Member for Clean and Green Environment explained that the main difficulty was that the Council was competing against commercial organisations for custom and that would always be a problem.  In his opinion, working with another local authority would be advantageous, particularly because of the rural nature of the borough which contributed to the high cost of running the service - his ideal scenario would be a county-wide trade waste service.

84.4           A Member questioned whether the Council really needed to run a trade waste service given that it was currently operating at a loss and considering the difficulties with competition for new customers.  The Chief Executive felt this was a very good point and Members would be able to see from the report why trade waste had been a vexatious issue for many years.  Based on Ubico’s existing capacity, the service that could be provided would be limited and he confirmed that it was currently costing the Council in the region of £31,000.  Notwithstanding this, whilst there was enormous competition, the Tewkesbury Borough Council brand should not be underestimated in that it was recognised and trusted and, with greater marketing, it may be possible to increase the income level; however, there would be a ceiling on that with the limited resources available currently.  It was noted that the Council did not offer trade waste recycling and this was a shortcoming of the service given that most businesses accepted they had a responsibility to recycle.  If recycling was offered, it would be necessary to increase capacity and this would have to be discussed with Ubico and other local authorities.  In his view, the action plan should be time-limited to enable a decision to be taken as to whether the Council could offer a sustainable, profitable trade waste service going forward or, potentially, whether that could not be achieved.  Members agreed this was a sensible way forward.  A Member suggested that another option would be an arrangement whereby someone else collected trade waste on behalf of the Council and the Head of Community Services undertook to include this within the action plan.

84.5           Having considered the views expressed, it was

RESOLVED          1. That the current position in respect of trade waste be NOTED.

2. That an additional action be added to the action plan to investigate the potential of another organisation collecting trade waste on the Council’s behalf.

3. That the Committee review the progress made against the action plan at its meeting in December 2019 and make a recommendation on the long-term sustainability of a trade waste service going forward.