The
plan was to attend last night’s Places Scrutiny meeting to see how the new
Councillors performed and collect a few photos. With the bag of camera gear over
my shoulder I headed for the bus stop and stumbled as the old legs buckled under
the heat. I decided that I probably wouldn’t survive the evening and watched the
webcast on my TV instead. Congratulations to any Councillor who did not go to the
meeting in an air-conditioned car and park within a few feet of the back door of the Civic Offices.
The meeting went on for nearly two and a half hours and was mainly about recycling.
In an effort to make Councils operate their recycling systems in a more
consistent manner, the Government has asked for ‘Simpler Recycling’ which does
not affect Bexley very much. There will be increased emphasis on food waste
collection and less contamination. It will be collected from more premises but
at present no data is available to quantify any actual improvement since an
extra 15,000 kitchen caddies were distributed. 1,600 were requested immediately
after the sticker scheme was introduced two weeks ago.
Councillor Clapperton (Conservative West Heath) queried the claim made by the
previous Cabinet Member in March 2026 that recycling was exceeding 50% but is
currently said to be 48% and the target for 2030 is “a big leap”. “Stickers
and talking to children is not going to get us there.”
Mr. Durrani
(Deputy Director of Neighbourhoods) said there had been setbacks (Serco industrial action and Covid) and
“it will take a bit of time to get back”. He said the 65% target was set for
2030. “We are confident” and more staff would be taken on said the man
who signed off
for disposal a perfectly serviceable caravan with no attempt to contact the
owner who had registered it with all the relevant authorities. Such men epitomise
the incompetence for which Councils are renowned.
Fly tipping adversely affects the recycling rate “but we are confidentֲ”.
Councillor Clapperton remained sceptical. “It sounds like a list of good things
and crossing our fingers.”
Councillor Slaughter
(Conservative, Sidcup) asked if the new staff would be on permanent contracts and introduced the
subject of Council supplied plastic bags as containers for soft plastics. She
implied it was a waste of money and said that those who do not recycle food
waste should be penalized. “A large number of people will ignore the bin
stickers. The public should be educated.”
The over-optimistic Kim Durrani said that the
additional staff would pay for themselves through increased recycling rates.
He then launched into an explanation of how some plastics are difficult to
recycle. If material is refused and it has to go to the incinerator it is at
high cost. If the difficult material is separated into a bag which can be
removed before processing the recycling facility can cope. (Surely any system
that demands that residents have a degree in Chemical Engineering to distinguish
one plastic from another is doomed to failure?)
It was confirmed to Councillor Slaughter that there are all sorts of variants of
soft plastics. “Cling film, crisp packets, biscuit wrappers and various others.
All of little value with no market for it yet.” Residents may be asked to use
their chemical engineering skills to separate the various plastics.
At this point it may be worth pointing out that Mr. Durrani, and Councillors
Slaughter and Hall (Chairman) had all referred to the possible need for fines
for non-compliance.
Mr. Durrani warmed to that theme again. Councillors are free to impose
regulations which might include withdrawal of the white bin and a reduction in
size of the green one. He said that this would force recycling - or fly tipping?
“There is no reason not to go down the enforcement route.”
Councillor Asunramu (Labour, Thamesmead East)
said there was little consistency of bin provision in her ward. Sometimes bins
are taken away with no explanation. Garden waste collection is unreliable too.
The Council Officer, Asya Mircheva (Head of Environmental Services, pictured
in red above) said that flats in Thamesmead were “challenging” and asked for details from Councillor Asunramu.
Councillor Chris Ball (Labour, Erith) asked if there were any statistics at all
to give an indication that the food waste initiatives were bearing fruit. Mr. Durrani
said he has the tonnage figures for food waste.
To a second question we learned that soft plastics are about 600 tonnes per year
and this is classed as contamination with associated higher cost but the
plastic bag system is expected to be beneficial.
The refuse truck fleet is due for replacement at a cost of about £11 million but
the changing requirements, e.g. more food waste, means that a decision cannot immediately be taken.
Vice-Chairman Frazer
Brooks (Blackfen & Lamorbey) appeared to share my scepticism about getting the
different sorts of plastic recognised by all residents and asked Ms. Mircheva
what she could so about it. She referred to educational videos on the Council’s website (which I have not yet found) and
an impressive list of written instructions, which I have.
Mr. Durrani said the most effective form of education was door to door engagement.
Councillor Donna Briant (Labour, Slade Green) said she was looking forward to
getting the plastic bags because she is already doing something similar on a makeshift basis.
Chairman Steven Hall asked about rinsing food containers which I assumed
referred to baked bean cans and the like but in fact Steven meant the Council
supplied food waste caddy. It was explained that the cleaning referred to
neither. It was the large bins associated with blocks of flats.
Note: To the best of my knowledge the communal food bin
sited behind the flats close to my house has never been used or emptied. There
is no sign of it ever being moved, nor does it smell bad.
My neighbour’s green bin which was
not collected two weeks ago still
sits outside his house unloved. Depite Bexley Council’s claim to come back for
uncollected bins, they did not. It helps to keep the statistics favourable.
For reasons unknown the webcast of the meeting has no reference to Mr. Durrani
making a contribution although he most certainly did.