Decision details

Cabinet received a report seeking authority to spend some of the allocated £1.078m funding for 2025/6 to deliver new and enhanced initiatives aimed at achieving higher rates of recycling in Stevenage.  This included the introduction of facilities at flat blocks that currently had no/limited on-site provision and/or required building works to enable level access for collection purposes.

Members noted that the report also proposed funding a Project Manager to oversee the implementation of these changes, working with residents to help make this a success.

The Portfolio Holder advised that this was a real opportunity for the Council to increase its recycling rates with the inclusion of 74 flat blocks in the town which currently had no recycling facilities.  He thanked the officers for their work on this initiative.

Members welcomed the improvements, particularly highlighting the new 3 wheeled wheelie bins which had been developed by the Team and suggested that the possibility of a patent for the design should be investigated.

It was RESOLVED:

1.    That the use of up to £719,000 from EPR funding to deliver recycling improvements to seventy-four flat blocks, to provide the necessary opportunities for residents to recycle plastics, glass, cardboard and food be approved.

2.    That up to £199,000 from EPR funding to support the implementation of separate food waste collections to residents, should the funding received for this from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) need to be increased be approved.

3.    That an allocation of £52,000 from the EPR funding to fund the SDS waste project manager costs in 25/26 and commits to a subsequent allocation to fund the salary (with any pay increase) in 26/27 (subject to funding), to deliver the legislative requirement for separate weekly food waste collections from residential premises from April 2026, and to support the delivery of the flat block recycling improvements be approved.