A presentation from Prof Adam Read, Practice Director, Ricardo Energy & Environment

1. The Impact of Austerity Measures
on Public Sector Waste,
Recycling & Cleansing Services
in the UK and Ireland – Rising to
the Challenge & Innovation in the
Public Sector
Prof Adam Read
Practice Director

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• A Personal Welcome
• Background to the study – Austerity in the UK!
• Responses to austerity measures by local authorities
– Different service areas
– Case study examples
• Key messages and strategies
Overview

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A Personal Welcome

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• Practice Director @ Ricardo Energy & Environment
– 70 consultants focusing on the strategy, waste
service deign & technology due diligence
• Internationally renowned expert on waste and
recycling service design, technologies and
stakeholder engagement
– Fellow of CIWM / Member of ISWA Comms
Working Group
• 20 years’ experience (UK and internationally)
– Former Public Servant & Academic
• International work includes:
– Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Russia, Beirut, Australia,
Eastern Europe, Mali, Guyana, UAE
A personal welcome

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Background to the Study

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• UK Government austerity programme
– series of sustained reductions in public spending
– aims to combat UK deficit as a result of the 2008 economic downturn
• Cuts have affected a number of areas
– including budgets for local authorities (and their service providers)
• Local Government has witnessed unprecedented change over the past
five years..... and have seen a significant reductions in direct funding
since 2010
– likely to see similar reductions over the next five years!
• Number of services impacted by the change
– including waste management, street cleansing, grounds etc.
Situation in the UK

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• Anecdotal evidence suggests that local authorities are
‘looking’ for cheaper solutions & implementing
budget saving measures
• But no-one understood the true extent of planned
and implemented service changes
– or their impact on residents, local environmental
quality and recyclate quality
• CIWM and Ricardo-AEA developed this study to
survey local authorities in the UK and the Republic of
Ireland
– to understand the impact of austerity measures on
local authority waste, recycling and street cleansing
services
Background to the research

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The project steps ....
• Desktop research to understand the
scale and timing of cuts
• Online survey targeted at local
authority officers and organisations
that work with local authorities in
delivering waste, recycling and street
cleansing services
– 10th September to 8th November 2014
– Advertised through a number of on-
line media
• One-to-one interviews conducted with
local authorities and other
organisations

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The scale of the impacts?
• Cuts have ranged from £100,000 per year for some of the smaller
district & borough councils to over £2 million per year for larger
authorities!
• Impacts from 2011-2015:

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How have authorities responded?

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How local authorities have responded to budget cuts?

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How local authorities responded to changes in budget?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%

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• Use of local authority secondments or consultants to address skills gaps
– procurement, and material processing and sales
• Shared posts
• Automation of administrative processes
• Use of technology to reduce ‘on-the-ground’ monitoring
• Increased use of agency staff
• Reduction in hours / tasks
• Increased scope of job role
• Delivering focused communications campaigns
• Highlighting cost messages – savings to the authority
• Focus on increasing recycling and reducing contamination
Common changes – Staff and Communications

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Going back to basics?

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• The Council has introduced a sustainable waste
collection service
– Three-weekly residual waste collection
– Weekly food waste collections
– Fortnightly recyclate & garden waste collections
• Extensive public engagement and information
initiative with leaflets, roadshows and a telephone
customer care service
– Waste arisings fell by 2kg per week and food
waste tonnage recycled increased by 75%
– 9,000 tonnes per year of material is being
diverted to recycling, saving £385,000 per year
Falkirk Council – sustainable collections

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• Rerouting collection rounds to drive efficiencies
• Reducing collection frequency (or capacity) of residual waste
• Strong enforcement policies at the kerbside
– no side waste, rejection of contaminated bins, limits on capacity
• Sweating assets – using vehicles for longer before procuring new ones
– using older vehicles on garden or commercial waste collection rounds
• Double shifting vehicles
– trade & garden waste rounds with core refuse and recycling rounds
• Outsourcing bulky waste contracts to 3rd sector
• Charging for garden waste collections
• Partnership working with nearby authorities
Common changes - Collections

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A local balance is needed!

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• Introducing permitting schemes for vans and trailers
• Reducing site opening times and days
• Closing sites or handing them over to 3rd sector
• Re-procuring contracts
• Introducing contract incentives
• Charging for certain material streams
• Introducing re-use onsite, including re-use shops
• Introducing commercial waste and recycling services on site
• Reducing trade-waste using number plate recognition
• Reviewing free tipping processes for charities
• Introducing mobile HWRCs to support closure activities
Common changes - HWRCs

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Gaining value from waste – selling recyclate?

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• Seeking short-term contracts for residual waste treatment
– such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) export
• Managing risk effectively in contracts
• Focusing on driving higher quality material capture
• Diverting organic waste from disposal
• Bundling contracts to achieve procurement efficiencies
• Renegotiating current contracts
• Joint working – particularly on sale of materials
• Developing new markets for material sales
• Delaying / halting infrastructure procurement
Common changes – Treatment and Disposal

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Missed opportunities?

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Waste disposal – making savings?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Renegotiation of
contracts
Working with others
to increase
economies of scale
Seeking short-term
contracts for
residual waste
treatment e.g.
export for RDF
Bundling contracts
(combining a
number of contracts
together to achieve
economies of scale)
Sell spare capacity
to third parties
Delaying / stopping
of infrastructure
procurement
Changes to recycling
credit systems
Changes made We're planning changes for the future

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• South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire Councils
undertook a joint procurement exercise for
the treatment and disposal of their residual
waste arising
• The contract runs for a period of five years
with extension options of 2 x 2 years
• The successful contractors are required to
meet annual recycling and landfill diversion
targets, which increase incrementally
• The rates achieved by the process are
better than those previously available to
the individual councils
South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire Council
– working together to deliver efficiencies

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Maintaining the street scene

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Street cleaning services – reduced frequencies!
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Reduced frequency of
cleansing of low-
priority areas
Reduced frequency of
cleansing of other areas
Reduced frequency of
cleansing of high-
priority areas
Renegotiation of
contracts
Bundling contracts
(combining a number
of contracts together to
achieve economies of
scale, e.g. letting a
public realm contract)
Joint working / sharing
of service
Changes made We're planning changes for the future

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• Reducing cleansing frequencies – across all areas!
• Communications campaigns
– targeting litter, including gum and cigarette butts
• ‘Re-beating’ and prioritisation of beats (work areas) to
provide ‘gateway cleansing’
– cleansing of the gateway routes into an authority
area, such as transport hubs etc.
• Reactive rather than proactive cleansing schedules
• Renegotiating contracts
• Joint working
• Community incentives, including using community
volunteers to conduct street inspections
Common changes – Street Cleansing

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• Joint delivery of services
– such as collection services
• Joint procurement of goods and services
– create savings on the procurement process
– to achieve economies of scale through joint
purchase (such as food waste caddies)
• Joint communications campaigns
– such as waste minimisation
• Sharing vehicle workshops
– vehicle maintenance and MOT
• Sharing of staff between authorities
Common changes – Partnership working

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But, it’s not all doom and gloom ......

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Key messages & strategies

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Thinking strategically & holistically!

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• Service and budget changes must not be done in a piecemeal or
disjointed way
• There is potential to undermine the service and the local authority
– unforeseen impacts on other services, levels of customer
satisfaction and overall system performance
• The most successful local authorities are thinking about the
opportunities rather than cuts:
– how can services be changed for the better?
– how can they be shaped to meet public expectations?
– how can services be adapted to drive efficiencies and generate
revenue?
• The impacts on the organisations that form part of a local authority
supply chain should not be overlooked ....
Think strategically and holistically

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The big message?

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• The local authorities that have responded well
to the ‘challenge’ are the ones that have taken
the public with them and have not been afraid
to take difficult decisions
– local authorities need to communicate the
reality of the situation and ask for support
from their residents
– give residents the power to make informed
decisions on the type of service they want
• Austerity measures may provide an
opportunity to drive a long-term change in
public behaviour ....
Take the public on the journey

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• Innovation, strategic thinking &
partnership working are enabling
service evolution!
• There are many opportunities an
authority might want to consider:
– Joint working & partnerships
– Shared services / back-room staff
– Supply chain support
– Engaging the public / customers
– Changes to workforce numbers
– HWRCs hours, staffing & role
– Treatment and disposal routes
Austerity is not uniformly bad for service provision

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Looking ahead ..... Be bold & embrace the opportunities!

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• Report and Appendices:
– http://www.ciwm.co.uk/CIWM/Infor
mationCentre/Reports_and_Researc
h/CIWMReportsandResearch.aspx
• Opportunities checklist:
– http://www.ricardo-
aea.com/cms/local-authority-
opportunities-checklist/
• If you would like to discuss the findings
or your current ‘pain’ please contact
me:
Waste on the Frontline – Thank you!

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• Don’t wait for austerity ‘to hit’ before
you think differently about your service
• Embrace the challenge of cost cuts
• Innovate out of austerity!
• Engage your residents early
– shared ownership of the challenge &
the results!
Lessons for the rest of the World

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Good Morning!

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Prof. Adam Read
Global Practice Director
Resource Efficiency & Waste Management
Ricardo-AEA
07968 707 239
adam.read@ricardo.com
ee.ricardo.com
@AdamRead74
Any one for a coffee .....