New Waste & Recycling Centre opens at Allington

KCC’s new Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Allington near Maidstone opens to the public today. This is the nineteenth HWRC in KCC’s network and is highly energy efficient and environmentally advanced. It is next to our existing Energy from Waste plant, which along with high recycling rates, ensures that only an irreducibly tiny amount of Kent’s waste goes to landfill. 

Susan Carey, Cabinet Member for Environment and I, along with KCC Chairman Lesley Game, a number of councillors and council officers, joined representatives of FCC Environment, our partners in developing and operating the Centre (as well as the neighbouring Energy from Waste centre) to visit and formally open the Allington HWRC. 

Allington is a valuable addition to waste disposal and recycling in Kent. You can find details of the Centre, and how to book an appointment, here.

Booking system to stay at HWRCs

Following our biggest public consultation for many years, KCC has decided to continue with use of the booking system at our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).

In the consultation, which ran from 19 August until 30 September, some 10,705 people responded, far in excess of those who have taken part in other consultations such as those on our budget. Opinion was fairly evenly divided, with 5,152 (51.9% of those who expressed a preference) in favour of the system and 4,778 (48.1%) unfavourable. Furthermore, the most favoured option for improving the existing system (including among those who were opposed to it) was to have the scope for same day booking. This has been trialed in two sites and will now be made available across all 18 HWRCs.

Any decision in this area will always be controversial, given the fairly even split in opinion. However, the booking system has evolved significantly since its introduction as an emergency measure to reopen the HWRCs in May 2020, and has (as we saw from resident comments in the consultation) won quite a number of converts once used; the ability to secure a slot, and not be stuck in long and unpredictable queues has proved very popular. The system has proved to be efficient and cost effective.

Following the conclusion of the consultation, its findings were debated in both KCC's Cabinet and elsewhere, followed by a formal report yesterday (18 January) to the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee, which voted decisively to recommend maintaining the booking system. The formal decision to do so was then taken by Susan Carey, Cabinet Member for Environment. KCC’s press release can be found here.

HWRC consultation: last chance to have your say

Kent County Council launched a consultation on the future use of the booking system for our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) on 19 August, and there are now under ten days until the consultation closes. 

The booking system was introduced when we reopened the HWRCs (after their closure in the early days of the pandemic) in May 2020. Views on the system are divided, and have been throughout. Some people dislike the inability to simply fill up their car and turn up at the tip; others like the certainty that they will not have lengthy queues, sometimes (as with the Swanley HWRC) stretching back onto major roads. 

The consultation has generated enormous interest. As of the start of this week, there had been 9,162 responses, easily the biggest response to a KCC consultation in the last decade or so. The outcome will contribute to the recommendations that we will bring to our Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee, for final decision by the Cabinet Member.

You can find out more about the consultation, and contribute to it, here.                         

A trip to the tip

Today (and last weekend, when I made my booking) I had the chance to be a mystery shopper of the Council's system for visiting Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) - in my case, my local HWRC in Swanley. All round, a very good experience; the recently introduced new booking system was quick and easy to use, and I booked in my session for today. I received several email reminders between then and now.

Today I visited and it was all very smooth; I went straight in, social distancing was easily observed and staff were (as always) friendly and helpful.

As Leader, I have been deeply involved with and have backed our approach of a managed reopening, using the booking system and gradually making its operation more flexible. The evidence I have seen, and in particular feedback from residents, has in general been very positive, But there's nothing like experiencing it yourself.    

Household Waste Recycling Centres: an improved system

The booking system that KCC introduced at our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) when we reopened them in mid-May appears to have worked well in general. There was a poor start on the first day of operation for the system, but this was resolved quickly and the new system has certainly avoided the queues seen in a number of authorities who did not introduce booking when they reopened.

A new system comes into effect tomorrow that should offer further improvements. It will now be possible for each household to book two slots per month rather than the current one. Sites will be open seven days a week with longer hours, and in total 32,020 slots will be offered each month, rather than the current 22,960. The system should also offer greater flexibility; users will now choose their recycling centre first, then an available slot and only at the final stage have to enter vehicle and contact details. It will also be easier to cancel and amend bookings.

All told, this will hopefully offer a further improvement to residents while continuing to maintain social distancing and avoid traffic queues.

Fire at Dunbrik

A fire broke out yesterday morning at the Dunbrik waste site in Sundridge. The site combines a Waste Transfer Station (WTS), which among other roles receives waste from kerbside collections, with a Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) which will be used by many residents in the south of the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division, along with many others.

Fortunately no one was injured in the fire, which I understand was identified at around 0415 yesterday morning. The WTS building has taken significant damage, the full scale of which is being assessed. The HWRC was not harmed, and will be reopened as soon as possible, though there will be some disruption as the rest of the site is cleared and investigated. The cause of the fire is not currently known.

The HWRC had just been reopened using the new booking system, along with all others across Kent. While it is closed those with bookings are being redirected to other local sites, such as Swanley and Pepperhill. This seems to have worked well yesterday. Similarly, the aim is to minimise the effect of the damage to the WTS on Sevenoaks District Council's kerbside collections.

Redevelopment of the site to make it a more efficient and sustainable facility was in any case under consideration, and this event may accelerate it.

Waste Centre booking system: better now?

As reported previously, the booking system for the reopening of Kent's Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) opened this morning in preparation for the managed reopening of the Centres themselves on Friday.

It proved a very difficult start. The booking system, which is hosted by Medway Council (with whom we have worked closely on the reopening plans) struggled to cope with demand in the hours after it opened at 11 am.  By 1.30 the web page had already had 99,178 views! Our Contact Point, which is able to make bookings had received 2,376 calls by the same time. Unacceptably, users experienced long waits and sometimes were moved back in the queue or even lost their slot after a long time on the system. 

It is not wholly clear what the underlying problem was; volumes were certainly high, but testing had been carried out under the assumption that they could or would be. Action was taken to stabilise and improve the system during the afternoon, and this appears to have improved matters. I have had feedback from others who, like myself, tried the system later in the day and were able to get into the booking form very quickly (in about three minutes in my case at around 7:30). Hopefully this improvement will be sustained tomorrow, when new slots will be released, and beyond, but we will of course be tracking this very carefully tomorrow morning and taking further action if needed.

Environment Cabinet Member Susan Carey will be visiting one of the sites tomorrow morning to see the preparations for Friday's opening, and will be talking about this on Radio Kent at around 11:30. 

The KCC website includes a reminder that trips should only be made if the waste cannot be stored safely at home, as well as the details of the rules and requirements for a visit to a Centre. 

Managed reopening of Household Waste Recycling Centres on 15 May

Kent County Council has announced that Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) will reopen on 15 May, with careful measures in place aimed at ensuring that the reopening is safe and orderly.

I indicated in my post last week that our overall direction was clear, and that we hoped to publish quickly both an opening date and details of how HWRCs will operate. That is what we have now done.

A new booking system for HWRCs has been developed by Medway Council, with whom KCC has worked closely on this plan. The system will be available to the public from next Wednesday, 13 May, and the sites themselves will be open from Friday 15 May. Residents will be able to book one of four daily slots, and numbers will be managed to ensure social distancing. Most of Kent's 18 HWRCs will be open seven days a week. Initially at least, residents will be able to book only one visit in a four-week period.

As councils had urged, there was a need for clarity in government guidance on HWRCs and on what constitutes a 'necessary journey'. In particular, DEFRA released its guidance yesterday, it's key provision being that:

"It would be reasonable for residents to undertake a journey to a HWRC if the waste or recycling could not be stored safely at home or disposed of through other legitimate routes such as a dedicated collection"

This guidance still therefore encourages a restrained approach to visiting HWRCs, although it does not require or expect either the police or HWRC staff to make a judgement as to whether or not waste being brought to a site meets these criteria. A measured approach by residents, along with the booking system, should help ensure that the reopening is orderly, does not cause traffic problems and protects the safety of both HWRC staff and residents using the service.

Further details will follow in the coming days before the reopening at the end of next week. 

Plans for reopening Household Waste Recycling Centres

The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, today asked councils to plan for the organised reopening of their Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). We have been informed that updated guidance will be published shortly to support local government to open sites safely during the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

Kent County Council closed its HWRCs on 23 March, and councils with waste disposal responsibilities across the country took similar action; travel to an HWRC is not an "essential journey" as defined in the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (England) Restrictions 2020, and police advice accords with the guidance.

Since the start of the closures, KCC has been supporting a range of collection activities by District and Borough Councils, and we have given priority to sustaining and extending the capacity of our Waste Transfer Stations, which accept trade waste and that from District and Borough kerbside collections, playing a vital role in supporting them.

Nonetheless, we have set out for some time that we intend to reopen HWRCs as soon as it is safe and feasible to do so. Susan Carey (Cabinet Member for Environment) and I have been clear as to our direction of policy, and officers have been working to deliver the practical steps necessary to enable reopening to take place, and to do so safely with effective social distancing and traffic management in place, using a booking system that we are developing jointly with Medway Council.

Other necessary conditions for reopening HWRCs include ensuring Personal Protection Equipment for our staff; effective operation of the companies who dispose of some of the waste presented at our sites (quite a few of whom have ceased operation during the shutdown); and a coordinated approach with neighbouring local authorities. All of these matters are being actively pursued. Any authority that reopens unilaterally will face an influx of demand, especially at sites near the county border; and while a booking system should in theory militate against that, it is unlikely to prevent residents from neighbouring authorities where the HWRCs remain closed from moving across the border in the belief that they can access our centres.

And, as the County Councils Network has pointed out in response to the Secretary of State's announcement, we still await and require clear guidance as to what constitutes an "essential journey' during the lockdown.                           

Nonetheless, our direction as a Council is clear and we hope to provide more specific timelines on reopening soon.                                       

  

A new commitment on fly-tipping

KCC's new policy of introducing a modest charge on certain forms of 'non-household waste', such as rubble and hardcore, at its 18 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) will come into effect on 3 June.

The policy is a controversial one, with many residents concerned that it will lead to an increase in fly-tipping, especially in rural areas (such as my own Division of Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley). The County Council argues that experience elsewhere - and many other authorities have introduced such a charge - does not indicate that fly-tipping will increase. There is evidence to support this claim, but it isn't widely accepted (as I know from my own experience of discussing the issue at parish and residents' association meetings).

At the County Council meeting last Thursday, KCC Leader Paul Carter, while confirming that the charges will go ahead, made three key announcements linked to its implementation:

• Despite earlier concerns, agreement has been reached with Medway Council that the reciprocal rights of each council's residents to use the other's recycling facilities (an important issue for Kent residents living near the Medway border) will continue unchanged
• A new KCC HWRC will be established at Allington in Tonbridge and Malling (and near Maidstone) to serve the local area and ease pressure on Medway's facility at Cuxton
• £250,000 will be invested in additional measures to work with District Councils to tackle fly tipping, including ultimately bringing prosecutions against offenders

All these announcements are very welcome, especially the last. I have always regretted that the County Council, as part of its heavy savings requirements in recent years, had to scale back the 'Clean Kent' initiatives by which it worked with the Districts to tackle fly tipping. This went beyond our statutory duties but was well worth it. We still provide some enforcement support and expertise, but hopefully this new commitment will get us back a little to the more extensive role taken by the County Council in tackling what remains one of resdients' most common concerns.

KCC consultation on charging for non-household waste

KCC recently opened a consultation on charging for specific items - such as soil, rubble, hardcore and plasterboard ('non-household waste') - at its Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs - the rubbish dump to most of us).

The County Council is rightly proud of its comprehensive network of 18 HWRCs and a strong recycling record. Many councils are closing Centres, and many nearby authorities are charging already for the sort of items that KCC is now consulting on. This has the result that people from outside the County come to our sites to dispose of this sort of waste for free, in particular to those sites close to the border. Thus, to take the two HWRCs that my consituents are most likely to use, 17% of visitors to Dunbrik and 10% of those to Swanley do not live in Kent.

There is no statutory obligation on KCC to take non-household waste at its HWRCs, and the aim of the initiative is to continue to provide a service for a modest charge that can help sustain the HWRC network at a time of funding pressure.

The proposal certainly has its critics, and there is an often-expressed fear that this will increase the fly-tipping that is such a bane in areas such as Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley. However, experience has suggested that a lot of fly-tipping is the result of well-organised criminal operations, often dumping waste from London.

The consultation runs until 1 November.