The South London Waste Partnership Joint Committee met on Wednesday 26 November 2025 to discuss communications and engagement updates, contract performance, and budget forecasts. Key discussions included the latest position on the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) contract following a calibration issue, the proposed management budget for 2026/27, and the current status of the dry recyclables contracts.

Communications and Engagement Update

The committee received an update on communications and stakeholder engagement activities for the period May to October 2025. This included progress on the SLWP Communications and Engagement Strategy 2025-2030, which focuses on six key objectives: attracting external funding for waste awareness campaigns, improving trust in local recycling systems, raising awareness of carbon reduction efforts, maintaining support for energy recovery, ensuring high resident satisfaction with Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (HRRCs), and developing the SLWP website.

The What's Your Plastic Solution? campaign had concluded, and the SLWP was now focusing on securing external funding for future campaigns. Efforts were underway to improve trust in recycling systems through the publication of Waste Watch, an annual report detailing waste destinations, and by offering facility tours. Social value initiatives were also being developed, including a community reuse scheme and grants for local community groups. Work was progressing on establishing a carbon emissions baseline for the Beddington ERF.

Regarding the Beddington ERF, the committee was updated on the NOx calibration error, with the SLWP having put forward suggestions to Viridor to help restore community trust, including withdrawing a permit application to treat more waste. Communications efforts were also being made to inform residents about planned maintenance outages at the ERF. For HRRCs, the focus was on preparing for contract re-commissioning and improving communication around these services. The SLWP website had been updated to reflect new contractual arrangements and to host performance reports.

Contracts Performance Report

The committee reviewed the performance of the South London Waste Partnership's waste treatment, recycling, and disposal services for the first two quarters of the 2025/26 contract year.

Food and Green Waste: Volumes of food waste collected decreased by 6% compared to the previous year, while green waste saw a significant 17.8% decrease, attributed to a dry summer. Compliance issues at the Biocollectors facility regarding odour were being addressed through a £1.5 million investment in facility upgrades.

Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (HRRCs): Recycling performance at HRRCs was 68.7%, a slight increase from the previous year. There was a 6% overall increase in material volumes collected, with notable rises in rubble, soil, and mattresses. The reuse shops had processed over 14,500 items. A proposal to establish mattress recycling schemes was deemed not viable due to cost and logistical challenges. An asset replacement programme worth approximately £4 million was underway for HRRCs.

Residual Waste Treatment (Beddington ERF): A total of 102,757 tonnes of residual waste were delivered to the Beddington ERF, an increase of 1.82%. Facility availability was 87%, taking into account a four-week maintenance shutdown. During this shutdown, 1,870 tonnes of waste were sent to landfill. There was one Carbon Monoxide emissions exceedance in May and a Sulphur Dioxide exceedance in October.

The committee discussed the NOx calibration error at the ERF, where 916 exceedances of the permitted daily limit occurred between August 2022 and March 2024. The Environment Agency (EA) concluded that while there was no significant public health impact, Viridor had breached its permit. The EA was still considering enforcement action, and the SLWP would assess appropriate contractual penalties. Viridor had submitted proposals to the EA to improve operational management systems, and the EA was revising its guidance for other ERFs. The SLWP reiterated its opposition to Viridor's application to increase the amount of waste processed at the ERF.

Dry Recyclables Management: The new dry recyclables management contracts, which commenced on 1 April 2025, were reported to be operating successfully. Contamination levels in paper, card, and container mix streams were low and within contractual limits. However, fully comingled Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR) collected in Croydon, Merton, and Sutton was being rejected due to excessive contamination, primarily from food waste and general household waste. Work was ongoing with boroughs and contractors to improve the quality of DMR collected.

Budget Update 2025/26

The committee noted the budget update for the 2025/26 financial year. At month six, a forecast overspend of £20,575 was reported, equating to £5,144 per borough. This overspend was attributed to £9,493 in unbudgeted legal costs related to finalising recyclates contracts and an £11,082 overspend in the core activity budget, primarily due to a higher-than-anticipated staff pay award.

Proposed Management Budget 2026/27

The committee considered the proposed SLWP management budget for 2026/27, totalling £707,000. This represents an annual cost of £177,000 per borough, an increase of approximately £16,000 per borough. The increase is due to a new legal budget (£7,500 per borough), an estimated 3.5% inflation on staffing costs (over £8,000 per borough), and an annual increase of £366 per borough for data and storage costs. The budget will enable the SLWP to continue managing delegated services and deliver its Work Programme 2025-30, which includes a strategy to reduce the base cost of treatment and disposal services. The budget also includes a reintroduction of a legal support budget to address potential change in law claims and contract updates.