The two counties were the only ones to bid jointly for funds from the government's third round of its Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund. And although they were awarded only half the 5 million given to most other successful bids (see letsrecycle.com story), they are keen to get to work.
Tony Childs, contracts manager of Gloucestershire county council, said both areas had a similar desire to promote partnerships between collection and disposal authorities with the counties and shared an interest in developing waste authorities independent from council control.
Synergy
Mr Childs said: “We are both two-tier authorities, but there have been traditional issues around getting collection and disposal authorities to work better together. As both authorities want to work towards that there's obviously some synergy there.”
Shropshire and Gloucestershire will work together on a detailed study of the “financial and legal barriers” to waste authorities, he added. “We have a similar desire to explore the potential of closer working (between collection and disposal authorities),” he said. “We will not officially be sharing facilities – sharing is about joint working and looking at joint procurement and those sorts of issues together.”
Shropshire county council waste management officer Steve Burdis said: “We decided we'd; take an innovative approach in joining not only with another county but one that's not bordering with us. It's a very unique line.”
Mr Burdis said he was disappointed the bid did not get the whole 5 million, but added: “Both parties are extremely committed to joint working. Waste management isn't a job you can do in isolation and it's good to see these partnerships are now coming to fruition.”
The partner counties, which do not border each other, may use some of the money to procure equipment such as vehicles and recycling containers, but they will not share waste facilities, and will pursue different individual projects.
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire plans to collect and compost household kitchen waste and has already begun talks with its refuse disposal contractor Cory Environmental about building an in-vessel composting facility. The county aims to recycle 30,000 tonnes of kitchen waste each year in this way. Gloucestershire had a recycling rate of 2002/3 17% at the moment, and a government target of 36% by 2005/6.
Mr Burdis said Shropshire would also look into increasing composting activities, but said both counties needed to talk with DEFRA in early January 2004 to finalise details of how the money would be spent. Shropshire officially recycles 15% but has set itself a target of 22% recycling by 2004/05 under a Local Public Service Agreement.
Both counties are also pursuing PFI contracts – Gloucestershire has a 25-year PFI-supported waste contract due to start in 2006, while Shropshire will consult interested waste companies about a PFI-funded integrated waste contract for 2007 in late January.
Kitchen waste
Several other authorities that received government funds are planning to introduce composting facilities for kitchen wastes, which may contain animal by-products.
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority has earmarked its 5 million for a new MRF to separate household cans, bottles, plastics and paper and composting in-vessel facilities. The area recycles under 9% at the moment and must reach 22% by 2006.
And in Devon, which has a recycling rate of 22%, three districts will spend 1.1 million each on kitchen and garden waste kerbside collection pilots, while the remaining 1.7 million will be spent on three in-vessel composting facilities to treat the material.
Plans
Some of the other authorities have also revealed their plans. Hampshire county council has revealed plans to spend its 5 million on increasing participation in recycling.
“We want to do more direct communication with the public, including face-to-face work,” said Steve Read of Hampshire partnership Project Integra.
The face-to-face element would involve collection teams offering advice to households not participating in collections or contaminating materials, he said. Another significant project could be rolling out Portsmouth's twin-bin kerbside recycling scheme, and closer work with the community sector. Hampshire already has a recycling rate of 26%, but has to increase this to 40% by 2005/6.
Cambridgeshire, which also won 5 million, said it would increase kerbside collections of dry recyclables and compostable waste to almost 100% of households across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The county has a recycling rate of 25% and needs to reach 44% by 2006.
Subscribe for free