Purpose

Statutory obligations have been placed on
English LA’s under the Environment Act 2021 to collect a more
consistent range of household waste materials for recycling, in
accordance with the Government’s National Resources and Waste
Strategy Consistency requirements.?

From 31st March 2026, the council will have a legal duty to ensure
dry recyclable materials and food waste are collected separately
from household residual waste. This will include a separate
collection of additional: Plastic pots, tubs and trays, glass
bottles and jars, tetra packs and flexible plastics;

Management of this increased range of materials will require a
major capital investment/rebuild of our existing MRF at West
Sleekburn. This paper provides cabinet with a detailed look at
several collection/processing option and requests a decision based
on this information for the way forward.

Content

RESOLVED
that:-
 
(a) Cabinet approves Option 3a (detailed in Section 7 of the report)
as the preferred option as it is the most efficient and effective
collection model for delivery of expanded household recycling
collections in Northumberland in full compliance with Simpler
Recycling requirements;
 
(b) Cabinet confirms that the
new recycling bin for paper, card and cardboard to be supplied to
each household under Option 3a will be a black bodied bin with a
burgundy coloured lid;
 
(c) Cabinet notes that the
earliest realistic but still challenging timeframe for
implementation of the new collection service under Option 3a would
be October 2026, but that there remain significant risks to
achievement of this timeframe and that the firm dates for
implementation can only be determined once all PFI Contract
negotiations have been concluded. The detail of proposed
implementation arrangements will therefore be the subject of
further reports to Cabinet in due course; and
 
(d) authority be delegated to
the Executive Director of Place and Regeneration in consultation
with the Cabinet Member for Environment, Rural and Farming to agree
the commercial terms and contract amendments to the Waste PFI
Contract and to provide the necessary contractual instruction to
Northumberland Energy Recovery Limited (NERL), the Councils PFI
partner to proceed with Option 3a.