Waste and Litter

From HalesworthTownPlan

Contents 1 Waste 1.1 Agencies 1.2 Publications 1.3 Background 1.4 Elements of Municipal Waste for Halesworth 1.4.1 Household 1.4.2 Non-household Municipal Waste 1.5 Current Position 2 Waste Minimisation and Reuse 2.1 Background 2.2 Current Position 2.3 Planned Enhancements 2007 – 2012 2.4 Potential Enhancements 2.5 Halesworth Target 2.6 Halesworth Action 3 Recycling 3.1 Present position 3.2 Potential Enhancements for 2007– 2009 3.3 Further ahead 3.4 Halesworth Targets 3.5 Halesworth Action 4 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) 4.1 Action Plan Background 4.2 Planned Enhancements 2007 – 2012 4.3 Potential Enhancements 4.4 Halesworth Target 4.5 Halesworth Action 5 Street Cleansing and Litter Collection 5.1 Background 5.1.1 Obligations on Local Authorities 5.2 Proposed Policy Approach by Suffolk Waste Partnership 5.3 Present Position in Halesworth 5.3.1 Street Cleaning 5.4 Halesworth Target 5.5 Halesworth Action 6 Litter bins and dog waste bins 6.1 Present position 6.2 Halesworth Target 7 Dog fouling 7.1 Present position 7.2 Halesworth Target 7.3 Halesworth Action 8 Fly tipping 8.1 Present Position 8.2 Halesworth Target 8.3 Halesworth Action

Waste

Agencies

Suffolk County Council; Waveney District Council; The Environment Agency

Publications

• Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy[JMWMS] for Suffolk 2003-2020 Adopted version 2003 Addendum 2008
• Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Suffolk 2003-2020 – Annexes 2008 - Action Plans 2007–2012 / Policy Statements /.Consultation.
• Suffolk Waste Local Plan –Suffolk County Council – February 2006

Background

In common with much of the rest of the country the amount of municipal waste produced in Suffolk has grown considerably over recent years. 296,000 tonnes was produced in 1995/96, by 2006/07 this had increased to 418,466 tonnes. Municipal waste consists of all waste produced by a householder that is collected by Waveney District Council or taken to Household Waste Recycling Centres (run by Suffolk County Council). In addition it also includes commercial waste that is collected by Waveney for which a charge is made. Municipal waste does not include arisings from the commercial, industrial or agricultural sectors that are handled by private waste contractors. Waveney District Council are responsible for collecting the waste in Halesworth and Suffolk County Council are responsible for the disposal of the waste left after all the materials for re-use or recycling have been removed. At present this goes to landfill at Wangford.

Elements of Municipal Waste for Halesworth

Household

• Waste collection rounds (three bin system)
• Household Waste and Recycling Centres (Beccles or Southwold);
• Bulky waste collections;
• Hazardous household waste collections;
• Household clinical waste collections;
• Drop-off/bring systems – bins at the Co-op and Town Centre car park
• Home composted waste (individuals)
• Street cleansing and litter collection.

Non-household Municipal Waste

• waste from municipal parks and gardens;
• beach cleansing waste;
• commercial and industrial waste collected by Waveney; and
• waste resulting from the clearance of fly tipped waste or abandoned vehicles./

The Environment Agency is responsible for pollution control in respect of the management of waste. This includes issuing pollution prevention control (PPC) permits and waste management licences for certain waste management activities, and the issuing of licences for waste carriers. The Agency also collects and publishes information on waste arising, generally at the national and regional levels.

Suffolk generally and Waveney in particular has an excellent recent track record in recycling and composting and has made dramatic improvements in household waste recycling rates from 8% in 1995/6 to 19% in 2001/02 rising to 43.5% in 2006/07. Performance to date has exceeded all Government targets and seen Suffolk consistently achieving one of the highest recycling rates in England. However, in common with much of the rest of the country the amount of municipal waste produced in Suffolk has grown considerably over recent years. 296,000 tonnes was produced in 1995/96, by 2006/07 this had increased to 418,466 tonnes.

Suffolk is currently dependent on landfill for the disposal of residual municipal waste and in our area this goes to Wangford. The Government has set limits for the amount of Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) that can be sent to landfill through its Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) with potentially severe financial penalties if these limits are exceeded; this is in addition to the increasing rate of Landfill Tax which provides a further incentive to reduce waste going into landfill. The need for residual waste treatment facilities is becoming urgent and incineration has been identified as the favourite option with a site at Blakenham identified

The Council introduced wheeled bins for the collection of residual waste in 1989. Over the next 14 years WDC collected waste through the Black Bin and recyclables were collected through a network of bring sites. This gave an average recycling rate of 5%. WDC’s statutory recycling targets were 10% for 2003/04 and 18% for 2005/06. The Council was committed to reaching and surpassing these Government targets and approved plans to move to a three bin alternate week collection system.

The three bin scheme significantly increased the recycling rate and diversion of waste from landfill, while achieving high satisfaction rates with the public. After one-full year of it’s introduction, a 46.59% recycling and composting rate was achieved; the seventh highest in the Country.

Current Position

Waveney Council currently provides the following waste management services in the District:

• An alternate week kerbside collection of residual waste to 53,363 households within the district;
• An alternate week kerbside collection of dry recyclables (paper, cans, card and hard plastics) to 53,363 households within the district;
• An alternate week kerbside collection of meat excluded kitchen and garden waste to 53,363 households within the district;
• An extensive network of 72 bring sites for the recycling of glass, textiles, paper, shoes and cans;
• A demand led collection service of bulky household items at a cost of £22 for up three items, or free for certain means tested benefits;
• A free of charge demand led collection of household hazardous wastes;
• As requested a chargeable non-household collection service to businesses within the District;
• It works as an active member of the Suffolk Waste Partnership to implement the JMWMS Communication Strategy and takes educational and enforcement intervention to effect the following improvements to divert municipal waste from landfill:
  • An increase in household participation with kerbside recycling and composting schemes
  • An increase in the quality of material collected through kerbside recycling and composting schemes
  • An increase in the capture rates of material available in the residual waste stream for recycling and composting.

Initial waste receptacles are provided free of charge and are standardised with a 240lt volume for each waste type. Additional and/or smaller bins are available to reflect differences in property type, waste generation and family size. Flats and other multi-occupancy dwellings are provided with larger communal bins. Most of the flats are not provided with a compostable waste collection. Assisted collections are also provided for those experiencing physical difficulty using the collection schemes. In the case of properties with no bin storage areas or side access, sack collection services are made available.

The recycling and composting performance for the year ending 31st March 2007 was 48.4%, against a statutory target of 18%. The amount of waste collected per head of population for the same year was 435kg.

Waste Minimisation and Reuse

[from Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Suffolk 2003-2020 – Annexes 2008 - Action Plans 2007–2012 / Policy Statements]

Background

The SWP recognises the important role that reduction and reuse play in the waste hierarchy. A greater focus for these activities is recognised in the Waste Strategy for England 2007. The following represents current programmes and enhancements to the current position where funding has been allocated. Further options to be considered and developed in order to implement the policies of the JMWMS and stretch performance to meet JMWMS targets can be found in the Proposed Enhancements below.

Current Position

SWP continues to promote awareness and change people’s behaviour towards sustainable waste issues and particularly towards waste minimisation, reuse, recycling and composting. This work will build on the two previous promotional campaigns that utilised over £750,000 of WRAP funding. The emphasis under the JMWMS Communication Plan for 2007/08 is reducing BMW to landfill, reducing contamination in the comingled dry recyclate collection and communicating with hard to reach and hard to engage groups. For minimisation the following workstreams under the Communications Plan 2007 are being progressed:

• Home composting scheme – supporting and promoting the WRAP home composting scheme to at least a further 4,500 householders in 2007/08. To date, and since 1998, 66,713 bins have been supplied;
• Excess packaging campaign – working in conjunction with retailers and shoppers this campaign is promoting suitable shopping alternatives to excess packaging including the single use of plastic carrier bags;
• Reduce other BMW programme – this includes promotional activities, advertorials and publicity on the Mail Preference Service, and disposal of excess edible food;
• Schools’ Education Programme and the Schools’ ‘Pledge to Recycle’ initiative;

In promoting reuse the SWP works with a number of community groups and charities. These include:

• Eastex Materials Exchange – On behalf of the SWP Suffolk County Council acts as the lead organisation on the regional steering group promoting waste as a valuable resource for use by another business;
• Furniture projects - working in partnership with the voluntary sector to support and promote the reuse of furniture and other bulky items by those socially dis-advantaged;
• Choose2Reuse – supporting charity shops in the resale of goods including furniture;
• “Freecycle” network – advocating the reuse of items through this worldwide initiative;
• Suffolk Real Nappy Network - supporting the use of reusable nappies.

All WCAs in the Partnership limit the amount of waste collected by enforcing a no side waste policy, some allow the purchase of approved sacks for additional waste and/or recycling.

Planned Enhancements 2007 – 2012

The following represents enhancements to the current position where funding has been allocated. Further options to be considered and developed in order to implement the policies of the JMWMS and stretch performance to meet JMWMS targets can be found in the Proposed Enhancements below. The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme (BREW) has awarded funds to the SWP to identify ways to increase business resource efficiency, and reduce trade waste that is sent to landfill through waste minimisation, reuse and recycling services for businesses within Suffolk. Potential enhancements arising from this current project are developed as options for either recycling and/or waste minimisation/reuse in the Partnership Action Plan.

Potential Enhancements

The potential options are presented across three themes; they include but are not limited to the following (the estimated figures for tonnes diverted have been derived from analysis of current government research and information gathered by SWP): Waste as a valuable resource – Householders and businesses will be encouraged to treat waste as having a monetary value and their action to reduce or reuse will result in cash benefits for them.

• Home composting - Maintain the existing scheme and, as necessary, without WRAP funding. To ensure at least 5,000 bins are distributed per year in accord with Defra guidelines resulting in the reduction in BMW of 5,500tpa.
• Grass-cycling – A campaign with home composting encouraging householders to leave grass cuttings in situ after mowing. To target 25,000 householders avoiding 300 tpa of BMW.
• Excess packaging – Encourage, in association with Government and WRAP, Suffolk packaging producers and retailers to reduce packaging. Promote alternative shopping practices to avoid excessive packaging (re-useable bags etc). This will result in relatively low levels of diversion (approximately 50tpa) but contribute to raising the resource issues and instill behavioural change.
• Shop Smart Campaign – A campaign to target reducing food waste in the home and encouraging ‘stop before you shop’. Over 20,000 tpa of food waste sent to landfill from Suffolk homes could have been eaten. To target 10,000 householders avoiding 700tpa of BMW.
• Waste Minimisation Clubs – Establish a number of Waste Minimisation Clubs across the County to encourage businesses to reduce and reuse their waste. Depending on the number of Clubs, participation and interest will avoid 370tpa.
• Product Service Businesses – Encourage the loan, hire and leasing of services rather than goods, or where they are purchased, they are combined with services including upgrade, delivery, cleaning or maintenance.

This will be as an extension to Eastex and allow householders to benefit informal sharing of goods. To target 500 business and 25,000 householders avoiding 150tpa. Waste as a community asset – Develop the social and community well being through local, community and voluntary groups, so as to recognise the environmental benefits of minimisation and reuse.www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk

• Community composting – Establish, through community champions and Master Composters, 10 community based composting schemes across the County. This will result in the diversion of 200tpa.
• Paint Reuse – Develop at least four sites across the County for the depositing of paint. Tonnages will be low at 20tpa, but added value will be obtained from diverting paint due to its hazardous nature.
• Scrap Store – Enhance the role of the Scrap Store and its community value to not only schools but also charities, voluntary groups and householders. This will result in relatively low levels of diversion (approximately 20tpa) but contribute to raising the community worth of reusing scrap goods and instill behavioural change.
• Furniture and Electrical Goods Reuse – Develop the existing services encouraging the diversion of bulky items and role of charity shops towards the reuse of furniture and other items. This will result in the diversion of a further 350tpa.
• Charity shop – Promote, by working with the Association of Charity Shops, the use of charity shops for the sale of merchandise and ensure that their role within the waste hierarchy is recognised. To target with the current growth in sales of 4% pa to divert an extra 10% of goods avoiding 80tpa.
• Second-Hand Sunday – Facilitate community events to re-distribute second-hand items. This will result in low levels of diversion (25tpa), but contribute to raising awareness of waste and its community value.
• Spectacle reuse – Promote, with opticians, the take back of spectacles and their reuse. Whilst providing a very low level of diversion (0.1tpa) this will raising awareness of waste and its widest value to the third world.
• Borrow not buy – Encourage, with declining use of public libraries, the benefits of borrowing book and media material rather than buying. This will result in low levels of diversion (2tpa) but support in raising awareness of waste and its associated community value.

Waste as an individual responsibility – Extend the personal responsibility of waste management such that not only businesses but also individuals appreciate their moral and environmental commitment to reduce waste. This theme would be coupled with financial and legal sanctions and aim to encourage an annual sign up of personal commitment pledges (e.g. ‘The Big Green Switch’) of at least 500 people per year.

• No Junk Mail promotion – Extend the current promotion to encourage 15% of householders to have taken steps to reduce the amount of junk mail they receive. Participating householders will reduce the amount of junk mail they receive by 70% and reduce waste by 625tpa by 2019.
• Use of e-cards – Promote, particularly prior to Christmas, the use of e-cards rather than conventional greetings cards. To target 5,000 individuals and businesses avoiding .1tpa.
• Enforcement on commercial waste in household streams – A co-ordinated enforcement campaign with associated publicity to reduce the disposal of commercial waste in that collected from householders and from HWRCs. This will reduce the non-household waste by 4,500tpa by 2019.
• Real nappies – Building on the success of the existing initiative with increased financial incentive for parents across the whole County and continued targeted promotion. To target 2,500 participants by 2010 and an annual increase of 5% per year to avoid at least 500tpa.
• Incentives – Research the opportunity to use incentives and other means to minimise waste. An appropriate scheme could divert as much as 18,500tpa by 2019.

In total this combined programme, along with the associated promotional, publicity and marketing will help to divert just under 32,000tpa by 2019 and result in the reduction to 0% in the annual growth of Suffolk’s municipal waste.

Halesworth Target

[from Waveney DC Sustainability Policy]

• To reduce the growth in waste produced by head of population in the district to 0% by 2010 and hence to reverse it.

Halesworth Action

Recycling

Present position

see Waste introduction above.

Potential Enhancements for 2007– 2009

• The existing garden waste collection (green bin) service will be extended to include all food waste (meat inclusive). This combined waste will be processed at the Parham IVC. This would be is expected to collect 1,000 tonnes in 2007-08 and 2,775 tonnes in first full year.
• Continue to run a trial of separate collection of food waste from 5,500 properties in central Lowestoft and Halesworth with *Improve data recording enabling the Council to focus work on the areas of highest contamination and lowest participation developing highly localised campaigns.
• Assess the viability of separately collecting kitchen waste (and glass) from areas which do not have Green bin collections based on the trial running in 2007/8.
• Concerted support and education will be directed to increase household participation in the extended green waste/food collection scheme. In the second full year it is anticipated the change to food included collections will divert an additional 3,385 *A plan to enhance recycling and bin stewardship in the town centres will be written in 2008. This will seek to highlight key areas for improvement, including increasing participation in kerbside collection schemes and direct action against householders who leave their bins out other than on collection days. This will be done in partnership with WDC’s Environment Support Officers.
• Through building up a strong network of community ‘Recycling Champions’ general messages of recycling and waste minimisation will be supported by this group and they will be consulted on future campaigns and promotional materials.

Further ahead

Waveney propose an:

• Expansion of glass recycling collection. Would require funding if carried out.
• Introduction of a textiles kerbside collection, incorporated in the current collection. It would require strong survival bags, but there is potential that the MRF in Norwich will be able to accept this. Would require funding for bags.
• Introduction of a trade waste recycling collection. Would require funding support for vehicles.
• Introduction of events recycling schemes. This would involve SWP being visible in promoting and collecting recycling at events and therefore gaining the revenue and publicity from this. Would require funding for staffing and promotional / collection materials.

Halesworth Targets

[from Waveney DC Sustainability Policy]

• Recycle 57% of household waste by March 2009, 60% by March 2013.
• Recycle 5% of Trade Waste collected by 2010, 10% by 2013.
• Number of schools recycling to be 91% by 2010 and 95% by 2013.
• Give at least 4 recycling talks per annum to schools, town/parish councils and voluntary groups.
• Provide a stand promoting a recycling issue at at least one major event per year

Halesworth Action

'to be added'

Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC)

are the responsibility of Suffolk County Council and they have produced the following separate Action Plan.

Action Plan Background

Suffolk has 18 HWRCs providing an average of 1 site per population of 37,772 or 1 site per 15,833 households. This level of provision compares well with other authorities in the region (a Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM) report shows an average across 16 Waste Disposal Authorities (WDAs) of one site per 45,921 residents).

The network of HWRCs has been developed over a period of about 30 years. The HWRCs were often set up at landfill sites, which were established as close as possible to the population centres. As a result of this, most HWRCs are at or adjacent to the major population centres and other areas of relatively high population. Most parts of the county are within 20 minutes travelling time of an HWRC and 80% of Suffolk residents are within 10 minutes of an HWRC, thus reaffirming that the current network provides good coverage of service. Only a very small proportion of the population is more than 20 minutes away from a site.

The most common site design in Suffolk is based on a concrete compound with 30 cubic metre (40 cubic yard) hook-lift skips that are accessed by steps and gantries. Such systems expose site users to increased manual handling risks and the potential for slips, trips and falls. Adequate separation of operational site vehicles and service users is normally achieved by temporary site closure during container and waste movement, increasing waiting times for site users.

The HWRC sites vary in size across the county, sites vary in size from 407 square metres to 3,200 square metres. Some sites have as few as 4 waste containers while some have space for up to 40 containers.

The current portfolio of sites has not expanded in size or capacity in line with their increased use and the requirement to segregate more materials; this has placed a strain on the capacity of the existing sites that will increase over time resulting in a worse experience for site users, falling recycling levels and an increase in the number of accidents and incidents on the sites. SCC has made a commitment to develop new HWRC sites as split-level facilities in line with best practice guidance.

The HWRCs were originally operated directly by the County Council. As a result of the EPA (1990) it was necessary to put the service out to tenders in 3 separate geographical areas, western, central and eastern. The successful bidder for all 3 tenders was the County Council’s Local Authority Waste Disposal Company (Suffolk Waste Disposal Company) which operated the service under contract from 1994. In 2001, Suffolk Waste Disposal Company was sold to Viridor Waste Management Ltd.

The current contractual arrangements with Viridor have been extended to 2009, which is the maximum the Current Position will allow. Suffolk has a good track record in recycling and composting. In common with much of the rest of the country the amount of municipal waste produced in Suffolk has grown considerably over recent years. 296,000 tonnes were produced in 1995/96, by 2005/06 this had increased to 395,203 tonnes. However, recycling and composting has also increased from 23,000 tonnes (8% of waste produced) in 1995/96 to 157,043 tonnes (39.74% of waste produced) in 2005/06. In 1996/97, the HWRCs managed 53,958 tonnes of household waste. This rose to 80,827 tonnes in 2006/07, which is an average annual growth rate of 3.3%. Green waste for composting is the main material that is segregated at the sites, and there has been a considerable expansion of this since its introduction. In 2005/06, the HWRC recycling rate of 47.6% comprised 22% green waste, 11% metal, 2% paper and 12% other recycling (glass, textiles, etc). Overall, levels of recycling and landfill diversion are constrained as a result of the composition of materials being delivered to the HWRC service. A composition analysis was carried out on the residual waste stream at the HWRC sites during March 2006. The analysis indicates that wood waste remains in the residual waste stream (6.4% of HWRC arisings), and that this could be targeted in order to improve recycling performance.

Planned Enhancements 2007 – 2012

The following represents enhancements to the current position where funding has been allocated. The implementation of these enhancements is reflected in the performance tables in Appendix C (page 44). Further options to be considered and developed in order to implement the policies of the JMWMS and stretch performance to meet JMWMS targets can be found in the Proposed Enhancements below. SCC will monitor outlets for wood waste as this has been highlighted as the one main element of the incoming waste that if recovered/recycled, could increase the landfill diversion performance of the sites considerably. A target has been set to divert at least 500 tonnes of HWRC wood waste from landfill disposal in 2009/10 and increasing the wood diverted to 3,000 tonnes in 20010/11. Should SCC be successful in diverting these quantities of wood the levels of recycling and composting at the HWRCs would increase to 49% in 2009/10 and 52% in 2010/11.

Potential Enhancements

Suffolk County Council is considering a programme of major investment and improvements to radically modernise its Household Waste Recycling Centres, which are spread across the county. Despite returning some of the best recycling figures in the country, the Council recognises that in order to encourage the public to recycle more, it must make the experience of using the sites even better. Some of the current problems include size (several are already over crowded) ease of tipping and the provision of sufficient bays to allow for greater separation of different recyclable materials. Wood is a good example where there is not sufficient capacity at many sites - so it cannot be recycled.

As part of the plans, the Council will look at which sites are capable of being improved as it firmly believes the better the experience of the public when using sites, the more likely they are to participate in the recycling effort. This approach reflects the changes in waste disposal in recent years. Many householders are now in the habit of separating different wastes at home as the districts and boroughs introduce collection services designed to handle recyclable materials. This now needs to become the culture at Household Waste Recycling Centres with a wide variety of tipping areas to take everything from card or wood through to waste oil or batteries. Other improvements will include a cleaner environment at the centres, better traffic management and staff on hand to assist the public with advice as well as unloading. Some of the new or improved sites might be located next to other, existing waste facilities to reduce transport costs. Future decisions will take into account:

• the fact the existing sites are taking more waste than ever before and that increase needs to be managed safely
• recycling rates are going up and need to continue to rise
• the service is there to help the public recycle
• the service is for the council tax payers of Suffolk
• locations should reflect where most of the waste is coming from to reduce traffic and journey times
• the programme of public education and encouragement will continue.

The Council has undertaken to consult widely on the future locations of the improved sites.

So Halesworth residents have to travel c 16 kilometres [10miles] to go down a very rough track at Southwold or queue up at Beccles. An Action Plan in 2002 pointed out the low volume dealt with at Southwold and suggested a relocation with better access from Halesworth. However this latest strategy contains no specific plans for a Centre for Halesworth which is unsatisfactory.

Halesworth Target

• Halesworth to have its own Household Waste Recycling Centre

Halesworth Action

'to be added'

Street Cleansing and Litter Collection

Background

Obligations on Local Authorities

• The District Council has a legal duty (so far as practicable) to keep adopted highways clean and to clear litter and refuse from them and from those public places under their control. Under the provisions of the Public Health Act 1936 Local Authorities may clean and recover costs from occupiers of certain areas that are used in common but not the responsibility of the authority.
• The County Council and Highway Agency, as Highways Authority, have a responsibility for maintenance of adopted highways and must ensure that highways are safe and free of obstruction for passage and re-passage of vehicles.
• A Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse was issued under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 defining standards, and response times for cleanliness, which should be achievable in different types of location and under differing circumstances.
• The offence of ‘leaving litter’ (Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act) says that if a person drops, throws, deposits or leaves anything so as to cause defacement in a public place, they could be committing a littering offence.
• The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 has extended the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, so as to make litter deposit in water and on private land an offence punishable with a fixed penalty notice. The CNE Act has also introduced the power to Local Authorities to issue Litter Clearance Notices to enforce the clearance of litter from private land by the owner/occupier.
• Under the Environmental Protection Act a Local Authority can take out a Litter Abatement Notice against any individual or organisation to clean up litter and refuse from their own grounds. Similar a Street Litter Control Notice can be served making the owner of premises responsible for keeping the front of premises, plus a reasonable distance either side, clear of litter.
• The public has the right to take legal action against Local Authorities to seek removal of litter on relevant land.

Proposed Policy Approach by Suffolk Waste Partnership

The Partnership is committed to a three pronged strategy in its street cleansing and litter policy:

• Good service delivery
• Education and awareness raising
• Enforcement

The Partnership will jointly work with partner organisations to improve the overall standard of cleanliness across Suffolk and to combat environmental crime. This will include working towards the PSA target of reducing litter by 12% of the 2004 total by 2008. The Partnership will endeavour to recycle or compost as much of the arisings as possible.

Individual authorities should review local data to determine and target those areas where allocation of resources can give most benefit to raise the overall standard of cleanliness and wherever possible work in partnership with adjoining authorities on cross border issues.

Leaf fall presents a challenge for all Local Authorities to collect and remove. The partnership will jointly investigate the possibility to collect winter fallen leaves from designated areas so that they maybe composted.

Animal carcasses in public places should be removed promptly, after notification, but will be dealt with through local arrangements appropriate to individual Authorities.

Individual Authorities will continue to work with Fast Food outlets and other undertakings to minimise litter generated from their businesses and prosecute where necessary.

Joint approaches are to be investigated in respect to street washing, chewing gum removal, abandoned shopping trolleys, road detritus and weed growth, dog fouling and drug-related litter.

The Partnership will work with its partners to devise a cross county promotional campaign and activities, highlighting its own and the Government’s message of ‘war on litter’.

The Partnership will promote and encourage local community involvement in anti litter programmes and local litter action events, facilitating support, equipment and disposal mechanisms.

At present Enforcement Action is the responsibility of individual Authorities. The Partnership will work towards a developing an overarching Enforcement Policy to cover the whole of Suffolk.

Present Position in Halesworth

Street Cleaning

Waveney District Council is responsible for the collection of litter from any area of public land within the district, including litter in or around public ponds and lakes. There is no charge for this service. General litter picking of public areas is carried out on a frequency basis, dependant on the use and needs of the area. Frequencies range from twice daily in town centres to monthly on rural roads.

Large concentrations of litter will be treated as dumped or fly-tipped waste will be investigated and cleared within one working day of reporting (visit the fly-tipping page for full details). If you wish to report larger concentrations of litter, you are asked to make a note of its location, the nature of the problem and the details of anyone you saw littering (e.g. a car registration number). Officers will investigate, to try and find out who is responsible and take appropriate action to get it cleared and try to prevent a recurrence.

Smaller amounts of litter will be removed during that area’s scheduled street clean. To find out when a street is scheduled to be swept, visit the Street Cleaning page of the WDC website. [NB Not available in Feb 09] There are scheduled collections across the district, but they will also respond to any reports that suggest a clearance is required. This includes:

• Cleansing of dog fouling from footpaths.
• Provision, maintenance and emptying of street litterbins.
• Removal, in emergencies, of any spillages, dead animals, discarded syringes or similar litter.

The Council has a variety of powers to take legal action against landowners and the people who cause litter, to help encourage a more responsible approach and prevent the problem. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 strengthened the Council’s powers by enabling officers to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for littering (the current level of the Fixed Penalty in the Waveney District is £80). Legal powers available to the Council include:

• Requiring landowners to clear their land where it has become littered.
• Requiring people running fast food businesses to provide litter bins and to clear up litter generated by their business.
• Issuing Fixed Penalty Notices to people who cause litter (currently £80)
• Prosecuting people who litter (maximum fine £1000).
• Requiring landowners to clear litter from land where it provides food or harbourage for vermin.
• Requiring the joint owners of privately owned common courtyards and passageways to clear litter and refuse.

Halesworth Target

Halesworth Action

Litter bins and dog waste bins

Present position

Waveney District Council’s Cleansing team is responsible for emptying and maintaining its litter bins and dog waste bins across the district. The Council’s litter bins are placed in public areas and are normally black and gold in colour. Its dog waste bins are either red or green. Other bins in the district are the responsibility of private owners such as shops.

Litter bins are usually situated in areas busy, pedestrian areas. They can also be found in places a litter problem has been identified, such as town centres, tourist and transport hotspots and outside shops. Dog waste bins can be found near open spaces, where owners frequently exercise their pets. The bins are clearly marked.

The general maintenance and emptying of the Council’s litter and waste bins is carried out by dedicated crews on a regular schedule, to ensure that bins do not overflow. This schedule has seasonal variants and frequency is dictated by the use and needs of each area. The Council inspects and refurbishes its bins on a regular basis. If you notice a damaged or overflowing bin you are asked to report it. They say they will check and clean bins within one working day of receiving a report.

The Council endeavours to provide adequate facilities for disposing of litter and dog waste. Should you feel that facilities are lacking in a certain area, they would be happy to discuss your suggestions or listen to your concerns.

Halesworth Target

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Dog fouling

Present position

Responsible dog owners understand the importance of clearing up after their pets and take their dog for a walk, armed with a poop scoop or bag. They will dispose of the waste when they return home, or use one of the Council’s dog waste bins - found across the district.

There is an inconsiderate minority who fail to clean up after their dog. Dog waste in public areas is dealt with through the normal process of street cleansing and is usually removed during scheduled street cleaning.

Reported incidents of dog mess will be removed from roads, parks, play areas or the beach within 24 hours of receipt.

Where there is a persistent problem, officers will try to identify irresponsible dog owners. The Dog Control Order makes it illegal to fail to clear up after your dog if it fouls any land which is open to the air and to which the public have access. Inconsiderate dog owners could face a fixed penalty fine of £80 or a fine of up to £1,000 if there is a conviction in the Courts.

Halesworth Target

Halesworth Action

Fly tipping

Present Position

Fly tipping is the illegal dumping of waste. Typically it can be general household waste, domestic Items such as fridges, beds and washing machines, garden waste, commercial waste such as builder’s rubble, tyres and clinical waste. In fact, it could be almost anything dumped anywhere it shouldn’t be. It is unsightly, unhealthy and costs taxpayers and private landowners an estimated £150 million every year to clean up.

Waveney District Council’s Cleansing, Refuse and Environmental Services teams work together to take preventative measures, investigate incidents and clean up or remove illegally dumped waste.

The Council is responsible for removing litter and fly-tipping, or dumped rubbish, from public land. Public land includes roads, pavements, adopted passageways, council-owned car parks, parks and recreation areas, laybys etc. There is no charge for this service. Officers will clear incidents of fly-tipping on public land as soon as possible, with the majority of incidents being removed within 24 hours of reporting. While they are doing this, they will try to identify the source of the waste and take appropriate enforcement action where possible. The Council works with the Environment Agency to identify incidents that may link to organised and systematic breaches of waste licensing law.

Occasionally, specialist equipment may need to be hired or a large amount of evidence gathered. This can take time so unless there is a serious imminent risk to public health, or the environment, these deposits may not be removed immediately. Officers will respond to reports of fly-tipping on private land by investigating the circumstances and trying to identify the source of the waste where possible.

They will negotiate with the land owner to get the waste removed and disposed of properly. Fly-tipping of controlled waste is a serious criminal offence which carries a fine of up to £50,000 (unlimited if indicted to the Crown Court) or an offender can even be prosecuted and sent to prison. Fly-tipping is often associated with dumping waste from vehicles. In this case the person controlling the use of the vehicle can also be prosecuted, which means that it is possible for a prosecution to occur when only the vehicle, not the driver, is identifiable. In addition to this, vehicles involved in fly-tipping can be seized.

Halesworth Target

Halesworth Action