The South London Waste Partnership Joint Committee meeting scheduled for 26 November 2025 was set to cover a range of operational and financial updates. Key discussions were expected to include performance reports on waste treatment and recycling contracts, a budget update for the current financial year, and a proposed management budget for the upcoming year.

Communications and Engagement Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on communications and engagement activities undertaken by the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) between May and October 2025. This update was to focus on activities related to residual waste treatment, Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (HRRCs), food and green waste treatment, and the marketing of recyclates. The report was to be structured around the six objectives of the SLWP Communications and Engagement Strategy 2025-2030, which include 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 HRRCs, and developing the SLWP website to effectively communicate the waste challenge.

Contracts Performance Report

A comprehensive report was scheduled to detail the performance of the SLWP's waste transfer, treatment, recycling, and disposal services for the first two quarters of the 2025/26 contract year (1 April to 30 September 2025). This report was to cover four key areas:

• Food and Green Waste Treatment Services: This section was expected to provide an update on the volumes of food and green waste collected and treated, as well as detail any compliance issues, such as those previously highlighted at the Biocollectors facility in Mitcham regarding odour. The report was to note ongoing engagement with the Environment Agency and Biocollectors regarding site upgrades and improvements.
• Household Reuse and Recycling Centre (HRRC) Services: Performance data for the six HRRC sites was to be presented, focusing on site user experience, health and safety, and material recycling rates. The report was to highlight the overall recycling performance of 68.7% for the period and detail tonnage changes for various materials. It was also to summarise ongoing projects and activities at the HRRCs, including reuse shops, rubble charging schemes, and booking systems for vehicles. The report was also to touch upon social value initiatives and the planned asset replacement programme for the HRRC sites.
• Residual Waste Treatment Services: This part of the report was to detail the performance of the contract with Viridor South London Limited for the treatment of residual waste at the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF). It was to cover waste volumes delivered, facility availability, and landfill diversion rates. The report was also to address emissions performance, including any exceedances, and provide details on the ongoing issue with the calibration of the ERF's Continuous Emissions Monitoring (CEMS) system, which had led to a significant number of Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) exceedances between August 2022 and March 2024. The report was to note that the Environment Agency and UK Health Security Agency concluded there was no significant public health impact from these exceedances.
• Dry Recyclables Management: This section was to provide an update on the new dry recyclables management arrangements that became effective from 1 April 2025. It was to detail the volumes of different dry recycling streams collected and managed by the new contractors, as well as highlight issues with contamination in fully co-mingled Dry Mixed Recyclables (DMR) collected in Croydon, Merton, and Sutton.

Budget Update 2025/26

The committee was to receive a forecast of the SLWP's budget for the 2025/26 financial year. At the end of September 2025 (month 6), the forecast indicated a total overspend of £20,575. This overspend was primarily attributed to unbudgeted legal costs (£9,493) and an overspend in the core activity budget (£11,082), which included an increase in staff costs due to the NJC Pay Award and increased subscription costs for document management systems.

Proposed Management Budget 2026/27

A draft management budget for the 2026/27 financial year was to be presented for consideration and approval. The proposed budget of £707,000 represented an increase of approximately £16,000 per borough compared to the previous year. This increase was attributed to a new legal budget, an estimated 3.5% inflation applied to staffing costs, and an annual increase for data and storage costs. The budget was intended to enable the SLWP to continue managing delegated services and deliver the objectives outlined in the SLWP Work Programme 2025-30. The report also mentioned the development of a Savings and Income Strategy to reduce the cost of treatment and disposal services.