ADD2475 East London Waste Authority - waste management strategy

1.1 The London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge (the Constituent Councils) are ‘waste collection authorities’ and have a statutory duty to arrange for the collection of household waste and, when requested, to provide commercial waste collection services for businesses (which are charged for). The Councils have additional duties to undertake street cleansing and clear up fly-tipping, and their duties as waste collection authorities extend to removing the wastes generated during those activities.

1.2 The treatment and disposal of the wastes collected by the Constituent Councils is the responsibility of East London Waste Authority (ELWA), the joint ‘waste disposal authority’ for the region. ELWA is also responsible for providing the Reuse and Recycling Centres in East London, with one site in each of the four boroughs.

1.3 In 2002 ELWA let a 25-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract, called the Integrated Waste Management Services (IWMS) contract, with Shanks East London appointed as the Operator. Shanks has since become Renewi, following a merger. The IWMS contract has unfortunately created some restrictions on ELWA and the Constituent Councils to respond to increased targets for recycling meaning that these boroughs have now some of the lowest levels of recycling across London (and nationally). At the same time the constituent boroughs have been unable to deliver the Mayor’s minimum level of waste service (collection of six dry recyclables and separate weekly food waste collection) required by the London Environment Strategy.

1.4 The IWMS contract comes to an end in late 2027, and as such there need to be arrangements in place for how waste treatment and disposal will be managed after that point. The lead-in times for developing new infrastructure are long, owing to factors such as the choice of options, complexity of planning processes and the time needed for construction and testing. Determining the post-2027 arrangements is therefore underway now.

1.5 In order to plan infrastructure for waste management, it is important to have an understanding of what types and sizes of facility are likely to be needed. This will ensure that any capital investment and/or long-term contractual commitments made by the partner authorities deliver value for money.

1.6 ELWA and the Constituent Councils have agreed to develop the East London Joint Resources and Waste Strategy (ELJRWS) to provide an evidence base for the development of future treatment and disposal contracts. ELWA is leading on the development of this strategy, with project management and governance systems set up that include officers and Members from all five authorities.

1.7 ELWA have requested input from the GLA regarding achieving general conformity with the waste provisions of the London Environment Strategy. It is vital that the constituent ELWA boroughs are able to significantly improve their waste management performance if London is to achieve the Mayor’s target of 65% recycling of municipal waste by 2030. Review, comment and direction from the GLA is therefore required throughout the development of the ELJRWS.

1.8 As the Waste and Circular Economy Team do not have the in-house technical ability to meaningfully review and comment on the waste modelling and service configurations that support the development of the ELJRWS, it is proposed that a specialist consultancy is appointed who are capable of undertaking this review and are familiar with Mayor’s waste objectives and waste service provision in the London boroughs.

1.9 It is intended to procure a suitable consultant through a competitive tender process via invitation to suitable companies. This approach has been recommended by TfL procurement.

2.1 To enable the Mayor review and support the development of the ELJRWS ensuring it is in general conformity with the waste and circular economy provisions of his London Environment Strategy and contribute to achieving his targets and objectives to reduce waste, increasing recycling and transition to a low carbon circular economy in London. As this will cover the four constituent boroughs of the ELWA (Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge) this has the potential to have a significant impact on London’s overall waste reduction and recycling.

2.2 It has been estimated that £45,000 should be sufficient to cover support for 18months, based on a projection of 1-2 days per week for that period. This will allow sufficient time to review documents, provide feedback, attend meetings and advise the GLA team on the best course of action. This work will be supported at all time by a Senior Policy and Programmes Officer who will be able to monitor project requirements and budget expenditure.

2.3 The work of the appointed consultant will provide technical review of detailed waste forecast and service scenario testing undertaken in support of the development of the ELJRWS. Engagement throughout the development of the ELJRWS, rather than review of a draft document during consultation, will ensure that appropriate targets and parameters are set for the document and that it sets out a sufficiently ambitious approach to contribute meaningfully to the Mayor’s waste reduction and recycling targets.

2.4 We are familiar with a number of consultancies who are capable of delivering this work and so will be invited to respond to our tender process.

3.1 Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, in considering whether to grant this approval “due regard” must be had to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics include age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation (and marriage or civil partnership status for the purpose of the duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination only).

3.2 This duty has been taken into account through the equalities assessments undertaken on the draft London Environment Strategy An Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) was undertaken that evaluated the social, economic, environmental, health, community safety and equality consequences of the strategy's proposed policies in order to ensure they are fully considered and addressed.

3.3 The Mayor wishes to support the development of the ELJRWS in order for them to contribute to the waste and circular economy objectives of his London Environment Strategy, which has been the subject of public consultation. No other equalities issues have been identified having regard to the nature of the proposals.

Key risks and issues

4.1 If the ELJRWS does not achieve general conformity with the Mayors’ London Environment Strategy it will have a detrimental impact on achieving his targets and objectives for waste reduction, increased recycling, reduced climate change impacts of waste management and a transition to a low carbon circular economy in London. To mitigate this risk, we intend to work closely with ELWA through the development of the ELJRWS and provide guidance on how the Mayor’s targets and objectives should be considered.

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2 The London Environment Strategy contains strategies aimed at promoting waste reduction, increasing recycling, reducing the climate change impact of waste management and supporting the transition to a low carbon circular economy. This Decision will support the delivery of the London Environment Strategy, including targets for waste reduction and recycling as well as the transition to a low carbon circular economy.

Conflicts of interest

4.3 There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

5.1 Approval is being sought for the expenditure of £45,000 towards procurement of consultancy services to review the new waste management strategy being developed by the East London Waste Authority.

5.2 This project is being funded by the Waste Programme budget within the Environment unit. The indicative profile of expenditure is set as £15,000 within 2020-21 financial year. The balance of £30,000 will be funded by budget provision earmarked from within the Environment programme budget for 2021-22 (specifically Waste Programmes), subject to approval of the 2021-22 budget. The project is expected to last up to 18 months, finishing in June 2022.

5.3 It should be noted, that the 2021-22 budget will be approved in February 2021 and therefore should there be any budget pressures that prevents sufficient funding to be allocated to this proposal, officers will reduce the scope of this project to ensure costs are containable within the budget envelope that is approved.