The South London Waste Partnership Joint Committee met on Wednesday 26 November 2025 to discuss communications and engagement activities, contract performance, and budgets. 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 has 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 report highlighted that the What's Your Plastic Solution? campaign had concluded, and efforts were now focused on securing external funding for future campaigns. The Waste Watch publication, designed to increase transparency about waste destinations, had been published on the SLWP website. Facility tours of the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) and Materials Recycling Facilities (MRFs) were ongoing, with a final public open day for 2025 scheduled for December. The SLWP is also trialling a Community Reuse Scheme, which refurbishes items collected at HRRCs for vulnerable residents.

Significant attention was given to the Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) calibration error at the Beddington ERF. The SLWP had published a press release and met with the Environment Agency and Viridor representatives to discuss the incident and explore suggestions for restoring community trust. These suggestions included Viridor withdrawing its application to treat more waste at the facility, providing funds for local air quality projects, and investing in community engagement.

Contracts Performance Report

The committee received a comprehensive update on the performance of the South London Waste Partnership's (SLWP) waste treatment, recycling, and disposal services for the period 1 April to 30 September 2025.

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 in Mitcham regarding odour were being addressed through a site action plan and investment in facility upgrades, with no odour complaints reported during the summer period.

Household Reuse and Recycling Centres (HRRCs): Recycling performance at the six HRRC sites was 68.7%, a slight increase from the previous year. Overall material volumes collected increased by 6%, with notable rises in rubble and soil, and a 41% increase in mattresses. The reuse shops had processed over 14,500 items. A feasibility study for a dedicated mattress recycling scheme concluded it was not currently viable due to cost and logistical challenges. An asset replacement programme of approximately £4 million is planned for the HRRC service over the next 18 months.

Residual Waste Treatment (Beddington ERF): A total of 102,757 tonnes of residual waste was delivered to the Beddington ERF, an increase of 1.82%. Facility availability was 87%, accounting for a four-week planned maintenance shutdown. There was one emissions exceedance for Carbon Monoxide in May. The report detailed the NOx calibration error, which resulted in 916 exceedances between August 2022 and March 2024. The Environment Agency (EA) concluded that while Viridor had breached its permit, there was no significant public health impact. The EA is reviewing Viridor's proposals to prevent recurrence, and the SLWP will assess appropriate contractual penalties. Viridor's application to increase the amount of waste processed at the ERF is still awaiting a final decision from the EA.

Dry Recyclables Management: The new dry recyclables management contracts, which commenced on 1 April 2025, were reported to be mobilising successfully. However, fully commingled DMR (Dry Mixed Recyclables) collected in Croydon, Merton, and Sutton had been rejected due to excessive contamination, primarily food waste and general household waste. Work is ongoing with boroughs and residents to improve the quality of DMR collected. Contamination levels for paper/card and container mix were generally within contractual thresholds.

Budget Update 2025/26

The committee received an update on the Partnership's budget for the 2025/26 financial year. At the end of September 2025 (month six), a forecast overspend of £20,575 was reported against the approved budget, equating to £5,144 per borough. This overspend was attributed to £9,493 in unbudgeted legal costs for finalising recyclates contracts and a £11,082 overspend in the core activity budget, largely 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 on the previous year. The increase is primarily due to the reintroduction of a legal budget (£7,500 per borough), an estimated 3.5% inflation applied to staffing costs (over £8,000 per borough), and a small increase for data and storage costs (£366 per borough). 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 committee was asked to approve this budget.