Decision details

Recycling credits are payments made to waste collection authorities by the County Council to support initiatives to increase recycling of waste where disposal costs for residual waste are achieved. The Council is committed to reduce the amount of residual waste and increase recycling.

The Government has published its Waste and Resources Strategy which confirms the intent to require that food waste be collected and treated separately by 2023.

The County Council has no legal obligation to pay recycling credits to District and Borough councils save in accordance with the criteria set out in Regulations. The Cabinet Member for Environment took the decision to reduce aggregate recycling rate payments by £1m (from £5.6m to £4.6m in total) in 2019/20. The District and Borough councils were given notice that further reductions may follow depending on progress towards a higher performing service and on the County Council’s overall financial position.

Progress towards a comprehensive collection service review is slow albeit the County Council has maintained its offer to work with and help fund trialling separate food waste collections. Some progress has been made with some of the collection authorities.

The Cabinet Member for Environment will be asked to approve further changes to the funding arrangements with District and Borough councils whilst meeting the requirements of the recycling credit provisions under the Environmental Protection (Waste Recycling) Payments (England) Regulations 2006.

The options under consideration include removal of all credits except those that meet the above requirements over one or more years and a partial reduction where credits can be shown to provide an incentive to improved performance. 

Cabinet considered a report by Acting Executive Director Place Services.

Cabinet approved that:

(1) The County Council formally notifies all the District and Borough Councils (D&Bs) in the county of the termination of all payments for recycling credits except those which are statutorily eligible under the Environmental Protection (Waste Recycling) Payments (England) Regulations 2006 from 1 April 2020.

(2) £2m is placed in a reserve to support D&Bs who commit to implementing a New Service Model for refuse and recycling collections, to a specification and timetable agreed with the County Council, including separate food waste collections, or agrees with the County Council another alternative approach that will improve performance and reduce costs.

(3) £0.3m is set aside for the West Sussex Waste Partnership to deliver joint projects such as those concerning schools waste, education, campaigns etc. and to undertake waste composition analysis; and that

(3) Authority is delegated to the Acting Executive Director Place Services to develop, in consultation with D&Bs, the specification for the New Service Model, criteria for awarding the funding and the calculation method.

The call-in deadline is 12 December 2019