Dorset Council Waste Strategy 2024

Waste and recycling performance

Dorset council has a proven track record when it comes to waste performance.

The key highlights are as follows:

• in 2022/23, Dorset’s recycling and composting rate was 59.1% making us the number one unitary and disposal authority in the country
• we also have one of the lowest quantities of residual waste per household in the country at 377.92 kilograms for 2022/23
• we have cut waste sent to landfill by 70% over the last decade. Residual waste sent to landfill has been reduced to just 2%. The majority of our residual waste is now sent to the New Earth mechanical biological treatment plant in Poole where organic and recyclable materials are extracted, and leftover material is turned into refuse derived fuel
• all food waste collected is treated in-county using anaerobic digestion which produces biogas used to generate electricity, and biofertilizer sold as a soil improver for plants and crops
• Dorset Council has been listed in the top 3 local authorities in the national Eunomia Recycling Carbon Index. This uses waste data to calculate the carbon emissions avoided through each local authority recycling scheme
• 1.5 million visits to our household recycling centres (HRCs) are made annually – the HRCs are considered high performing in terms of diversion of waste from disposal; in 2022/23, the recycling rate was 52.5%
• good customer satisfaction – a survey conducted in 2022 indicated that 87.5% of the Dorset population are either very satisfied or satisfied with the waste service
• since the introduction of our ‘Recycle for Dorset’ waste collection scheme, ongoing annual savings of £3.3 million through increased recycling and reduced waste disposal costs have been achieved

Our ‘Recycle for Dorset’ service offers the following collections:

• a weekly collection of cooked and uncooked food waste using a 23 litre lockable container
• a fortnightly collection of recycling using a 240 litre wheeled bin for:
  • paper and card
  • plastics (bottles, pots, tubs and trays)
  • cans and aerosols
  • a 40 litre recycling box for glass and a reusable bag for batteries
• a fortnightly collection of rubbish using a 140 litre wheeled bin
• an optional, charged fortnightly garden waste collection using a 240 litre wheeled bin, provided all year round

We have consistently managed to keep total waste arisings from increasing, despite the number of households in the county growing on a yearly basis.

• landfill has reduced from 2002 to 2023 
• treated waste has increased from 2002 to 2023  
• reuse, recycling, composing has increased since 2002 to 2023

In an independent performance report conducted in 2020/21 by an external consultancy which benchmarked Dorset Council across a wide range of local authorities, it was concluded that “the waste service is deemed to be effective, provides quality and achieves high diversion rates. In fact, it delivers real value for money”.

Innovative waste disposal contracts and infrastructure

We have opted to contract directly with service providers to deliver the front line waste services (instead of an overarching service provider), and to secure disposal outlets for the waste generated.

This approach has been a successful one and has seen improvements in performance as well as delivering financial savings.

It has also enabled the flexibility to introduce new services at the kerbside and move away from landfill as new treatment capacity becomes available.

The level of waste / recyclate arisings created in Dorset does not currently support the direct ownership of a significant processing plant, resulting in the existing strategy of entering into a number of smaller processing contracts without minimum tonnages.

This is made possible by Dorset Council owning its own transfer stations and outsourcing the operation of these to a number of smaller contractors.

This general approach to disposal arrangements has brought benefit in terms of low disposal costs as evidenced in benchmarking.

We now send all kerbside residual waste to a mechanical biological treatment facility.

This means that the amount of waste directly landfilled has reduced significantly, with less than 2.8% of waste landfilled in 2022/23.

The current waste disposal contracts for residual waste are in place until 2027.

The recycling contract to manage the HRCs, waste transfer stations and associated haulage has now been extended to 2026.

This contract provides Dorset Council with efficiency savings and service flexibility for the contract duration.

We also work with community organisations to deliver waste contracts.

For example, our bulky waste collection service for the whole of the council is operated by Dorset Reclaim, which is a local furniture reuse charity.

The contract maximises reuse of bulky waste collected, adds social value, meets environmental aims and reduces waste disposal costs.

The independent benchmarking report detailed in the previous page concluded that this “current methodology of managing waste disposal is producing an effective service delivery, with managed risks at below average cost”.

Update on infrastructure

We are seeking to develop a waste site in the Blandford area.

This will secure critical infrastructure in Blandford for the development of a strategic waste transfer facility in central Dorset, which will provide the capacity to maximise the benefits of operational efficiency and resilience to provide business continuity.

The new waste management centre will incorporate a much-improved HRC which will allow more materials to be separated for recycling compared with the current site serving the Blandford area. The new site will also allow for more diversion of waste for reuse.

We have undertaken a waste site infrastructure condition report, including a usage review, to ascertain any options for rationalisation and improved capacity.

It is understood that these are vital assets to the service.

Many of the current waste facilities are too old, too small and have insufficient capacity for future household growth, increased quantities of waste and the associated vehicles used to collect and transport this waste; this will have a direct impact upon the efficiency of the waste service.

This condition report is being followed up as part of a wider council infrastructure review which is currently being undertaken.

This will include a full review of all council depot infrastructure, considering actual and potential requirements, and the possibility of rationalisation and integration across the council for maximum efficiency.

Budget savings and efficiencies

One of our key achievements has been the successful implementation of the ‘Recycle for Dorset’ kerbside service.

This continues to save £3.3 million each year through increased recycling and reduced waste disposal costs.

In terms of value, although the collection costs in Dorset are slightly above average (due to the geographical nature of the county), once disposal costs are considered, the level of recycling, frequency of collections, and the high levels of customer satisfaction, the service represents good value for money.

A further consideration to this has to be the fact that the majority of households are covered by the recycling service, including flats, which is most unusual considering the high levels of rurality in Dorset.

Through the current route optimisation and digitisation programmes, and the introduction of in cab technology in all of the waste fleet, the collection rounds in Dorset are being analysed and evaluated, with the aim to make further efficiencies to absorb property growth and capacity within existing resources.

 

 

We have strived for continual improvement and our key projects/activities have been in the following areas.

Behavioural change projects

Regular education and communication campaigns are an essential part of the waste service, they provide clarity around how the service should be used and help change behaviour to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle more of their waste.

Our waste campaigns are carefully planned and evaluated.

Through the monitoring of tonnages and participation before and after campaigns, it is estimated that we save approximately £1 per household by undertaking this work.

Some of the different campaigns and projects currently being undertaken are as follows.

Food improvement programme

We place a large focus on our successful ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ campaign, which encourages people to reduce the amount of food waste that they produce, whilst saving money at the same time.

It also highlights the close links between waste food and climate change, i.e. waste food accounts for more greenhouse gases than flying.

Alongside our efforts to reduce the quantities of food waste, we continue to undertake a comprehensive programme of work to increase the participation and capture of food via the kerbside food collection service.

Improvement to recycling provision at flats / apartments (communal properties)

This is an ongoing successful project where the waste education team visit low participating communal properties with high levels of contamination in the recycling bins.

They attempt to increase the recycling rates of these properties by reconfiguring the storage areas, providing aperture lids for recycling, bin locks, improved signage, leaflet drops, door to door advice, events, etc.

The team work extremely closely with the waste operations team, housing officers and resident associations on this project.

Reduction in the collection of side waste

We have undertaken a targeted project tackling additional side waste which is placed next to the domestic wheeled bins for collection.

As part of the project, we reinforced the policy of no side waste, and the crews did not collect it, leaving a label explaining why.

This has potential to generate savings if replicated county wide by reduced waste disposal costs and increased recycling.

Contaminated recycling process

This is a project aimed to reduce the incidences of recycling bin contamination at residential properties in the Dorset Council area.

This is carried out by collection crews reporting incidences of contamination via their in-cab devices – those addresses that have multiple reports are then contacted by the waste education team to try and resolve the situation and educate the residents to use the scheme correctly.

This is critical to make the material collected attractive to the reprocessing markets and keep the gate fees and costs as low as possible.

Developing new campaigns – ‘where things go?’

We are constantly generating new campaigns, and our latest one is focusing on what happens to our recyclables, i.e., ‘where things go’.

It will focus on a material at a time, starting with a can – an animation has been produced which details the journey of a can, from cradle to grave.

Improving the HRC performance – tackle black bags

An area that has potential to generate savings is tackling the black bag waste that comes into the HRCs.

It is estimated that 31.8% of the contents of black bag waste could have been dealt with by the kerbside recycling scheme, and more still by using the alternative containers at the HRC.

We will be working with our contractors to try and improve performance by using a number of different tactics:

• black bag splitting on site
• re-labelling the skips
• reconfiguring the different containers, etc

We are working towards promoting more reuse at the sites too.

Tackling commercial waste from holiday lets entering the household waste service

We are continuing to tackle holiday lets – these are businesses so should not be using the household ‘Recycle for Dorset’ service – they should be paying for a commercial waste and recycling service.

We have embarked on a project to identify as many of these holiday lets as possible (through joint working between council departments) and removing their domestic bins and directing them to a commercial service.

Reduction and reuse campaigns

The council undertake a plethora of reuse activities including:

• the development and maintenance of an online ‘zero waste’ map
• numerous give & take days (community reuse days to encourage the donation of unwanted items for others to take for free)
• financial incentives and discounts for Dorset residents for reusable nappies, incontinence items and female hygiene products
• the selling of subsidised home compost bins

Litterlotto and littering from vehicles

We have recently partnered with Litter Lotto which is an app that encourages people to put their litter in a litter bin and take a photo of them doing it.

They are entered into a monthly prize draw, and we have had multiple winners from across the county.

We are also doing what we can to fight roadside litter.

Dorset was one of the first councils in the country to set up a system whereby residents can send in dashcam footage via an online eform showing litter being thrown out of a car.

Using the footage that is sent, we can subsequently find the registered keeper and fine them £150.

We try and promote this message as much as possible through the ‘keep roads clear, we don’t leave rubbish here’ campaign.

Digital Innovation and data-led decisions

We have, and continue to, transform our back office processes and systems through digitisation and maximising automation opportunities.

This transformation has been possible through the introduction of a new ICT system with integrated in-cab devices to allow for real time collection information to be received.

Through this work, we have managed to deliver savings, efficiencies and generate additional income.

Some of the efficiencies and savings achieved so far are summarised below:

• missed bins have reduced by 34% a year since the introduction of in-cab. This equates to over 7,500 fewer bins missed annually on the household waste collection service
• manual processes have reduced by approximately 60% since the introduction of the new ICT system through the increased automation
• the introduction of in-cab devices and ‘live’ collection information now available to collection crews has increased trade and garden waste income through the discovery and charging of unpaid bins that were previously being emptied incorrectly
• customer self-service has increased, with 65% of all customer requests now completed online reducing customer contact costs

We are using the new ICT system to enhance waste collection efficiency through a route optimisation project.

This initiative utilises data from in-cab devices to redesign household waste collection routes, aiming to improve service delivery and accommodate future growth.

The project also seeks to evenly balance the collection rounds and provide options for additional recyclable materials to be collected at the kerbside.

This strategic approach is crucial for maintaining high service standards and adapting to upcoming changes.

Additional non statutory waste services

We have three paid for waste services which are managed by the waste commercial services team.

The three services are:

• garden waste
• business waste
• container charging

Garden waste.

We provide an optional paid for garden waste service.

This service is available to all Dorset residents and offers a fortnightly collection of garden waste from a 240L wheeled bin or 90L compostable sacks for properties that are unable to accommodate wheeled bins.

The service is provided all year round with the exception for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year period.

The service currently has 54,000 properties subscribed to the garden waste service which is approximately 30% of all Dorset properties.

Business waste

We offer charged waste collection services to businesses in Dorset.

The business waste service provides businesses with general waste, mixed recycling, glass and food waste collections.

The service currently provides waste collections to approximately 5,000 businesses across Dorset, which is approximately 30% of all Dorset businesses.

In addition, event waste management services are provided across Dorset to over 70 events and festivals a year.

Container charging

We charge for some household waste bins and containers.

Container charges were introduced to allow the service to recover all costs associated with purchasing and delivering some of the household waste containers.

Charges are currently applied for the provision of waste containers for:

• new developments
• larger rubbish bins (for properties with five or more residents)
• additional rubbish sacks (for families with a 140 litre rubbish bin and one or more children in nappies)

Approximately 2,750 requests for chargeable household containers are processed each year.

Waste composition

Dorset households produce 45,000 tonnes of residual waste each year.

A key challenge is to reduce, reuse and recycle as much of this as possible.

What our residual waste is made up of in %

• kitchen organic = 19.2
• garden organic = 4.3 
• HHW – hazardous household waste (household batteries, printer cartridges, engine oil, paint cans) = 0.8  
• WEEE - waste electronic and electrical equipment = 0.9
• FINES - dust etc anything smaller than 10 mm = 0.3
• paper = 8.7
• Card and cardboard = 2.9
• plastic film = 11.5 
• dense plastics = 5.5 
• textiles = 7.1 
• sanitary = 16.4
• miscellaneous combustibles = 7.6 
• non-combustible inerts = 7.1 
• glass = 5.3 
• ferrous materials = 1.1 
• non-ferrous materials = 1.3 

In total, 32.1% of residual waste collected could have been recycled at the kerbside.

This is broken down into:

• 9.5% dry recycling
• 19.2% food waste
• 3.8% garden waste

The largest components of residual waste are:

• food (19.2%)
• sanitary waste (16.4%)
• plastic films (11.5%).

Regarding food waste, 55% was avoidable with 20% of all discarded food still packaged.

Packaging waste formed 17.7% of the total residual waste.

The majority of this was plastic packaging (66.5%).

1.65% of the glass in residual waste could have been recycled at the kerbside.

3.7% is other glass that cannot be recycled at the kerbside.

 

 

The number of dwellings in Dorset has steadily increased over the years.

The current number of dwellings in Dorset is 189,000.

There was a sharp drop in 2020/21 was due to 23,000 Christchurch properties moving across to BCP Council in April 2020.

It is estimated that an additional 9,230 extra houses will be built in the next five years in Dorset, and a further 18,570 households are expected to be built after 2027/28.

Based on current total waste volumes per household, this increase in property growth could potentially amount to an additional 25,500 tonnes of waste which will need to be collected and dealt with beyond March 2028.

However, as detailed previously, through the continued efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle as much waste as possible, we have consistently managed to keep total waste arisings from increasing, despite the number of households in the county growing.

Furthermore, through the ‘polluter pays’ principle which features in government legislation as detailed in the next section, companies are being encouraged to design more sustainable and recyclable products and employ more environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.

This will have an impact on the type and quantity of waste collected by local authorities.

For example, we are already witnessing changes in the type of packaging used, with producers moving towards smaller, more paper/board type packaging with less plastic.

Going forwards, we will continue to develop and undertake waste reduction and recycling initiatives with the aim to curb the potential growth of waste as the population continues to increase in Dorset.

Many of our waste sites within Dorset are both ageing and limited in the ability to expand and improve.

This applies to some of the HRCs, transfer stations and depots.

They are too small and have insufficient capacity for future household growth, increased quantities of waste and the associated vehicles used to collect and transport this waste.

This also results in the limited capacity to store and bulk up waste to provide suitable contingency in the event of a disruption to collections or at a waste site, e.g. a fire, breakdown, etc.

The efficiency of the waste service is also heavily reliant on the availability of suitable waste sorting and treatment facilities to accept the waste that we collect.

There are limited third party waste plants to accept both residual and recyclate material in the county.

The lack of suitable processing facilities is a national issue, but it is anticipated that the forthcoming legislative changes, as detailed in the next section, will provide the much needed confidence and reassurance for industry to invest in new plants.

The waste hierarchy is widely recognised and sets out a list of priorities for waste management, starting with waste:

• reduction
• reuse and recycling
• followed by recovery of materials
• energy and finally disposal.

The hierarchy forms the backbone of this strategy:

• reduce
• reuse 
• recycle and compost 
• recover
• disposal

The management of waste is heavily regulated to ensure everyone has access to waste and recycling services and to protect the environment now and for future generations.

It is important that both current and emerging national policy and legislation is followed when designing and operating waste services or developing a strategy.

Some of the most significant national policy and legislation impacting waste management and the development of the Dorset Council Waste Strategy are:

Environmental Protection Act 1990

This details the roles and obligations of councils to collect and dispose of waste.

The Waste Framework Directive 2008

This sets the basic concepts and definitions related to waste management, including definitions of waste, recycling, and recovery

Our Waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England (2018)

This is the national policy for waste management in England. It sets an overarching framework for waste management in England with a focus on:

• preserving material resources by:
  • minimising waste
  • promoting resource efficiency
  • moving towards a circular economy
  • protecting the natural environment by reducing and managing waste safely and tackling waste crime

The strategy sets national commitments and targets relating to waste reduction and recycling, as well as limiting the use of landfill.

The Environment Act 2021

This piece of legislation provides the government with the powers to deliver on many of the commitments detailed in ‘Our Waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England (2018)’ through the introduction of new waste regulations. It includes specific powers relating to:

• extended producer responsibility to make manufacturers and retailers responsible for the cost of dealing with their products when they are thrown away
• deposit return schemes allowing for the introduction of a national returnable deposit on drinks containers
• consistency of collections to expand the range of materials collected from households for recycling and composting
• labelling of products to make it easier to understand what can and cannot be recycled

In October 2023, the consistency of collections proposals was superseded by the government’s new simpler recycling reforms.

Whilst this still requires the collection of a consistent set of materials by local authorities across the country including:

• paper and cardboard
• metal packaging
• foil
• glass bottles and jars
• plastic (pots, tubs, trays, cartons, films and flexibles)
• food and garden waste

it ensures that local authorities retain the flexibility to collect the recyclable waste streams in the most appropriate way for their residents.

The extended producer responsibility regulations for packaging include provisions that implement the ‘polluter pays’ principle by requiring producers to pay the full net cost of collecting and recycling their packaging when it becomes waste.

This new legislation will change future funding mechanisms for local authorities for the collection and recycling of this material, and the amount of funding received will be dependent on whether local authorities can evidence that they are running efficient and effective services to collect this packaging.

The Circular Economy Package (2018)

A UK wide legislative framework for the reduction of waste and long-term ambitions for waste management and recycling by turning waste into a resource.

It sets legally binding national targets to:

• recycle at least 65% of waste by 2035
• reduce landfill to maximum of 10% of waste by 2035

The extension of carbon pricing to energy from waste.

The application of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to Energy from Waste represents the most significant regulatory intervention to the waste industry in a generation by providing a powerful incentive for net zero investment.

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a “cap and trade” scheme which seeks to reduce fossil greenhouse gases (GHG) in energy intensive sectors. A cap is set on the maximum permitted level of greenhouse gas emissions across specified sectors reduced over time.

In July 2023, the government outlined their intention to include all waste incineration and energy from waste technologies within the ETS from and no later than 2028.

Delivering policies to reduce the amount of plastic based waste out of the residual waste stream is essential to decarbonising energy from waste.

Waste Prevention Programme for England – maximising resources, minimising waste.

This sets out the government’s priorities for managing resources and waste, in line with ‘Our Waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England (2018)’.

The programme aims to move to a circular economy by keeping goods in circulation for as long as possible and at their highest value. This includes increasing the reuse, repair and remanufacture of goods.

We will review the impact of national policy throughout the life of the strategy to ensure any future decisions taken are fully aligned with new legislation.

Local drivers

Dorset Council is continually seeking to identify efficiencies and deliver savings associated with the stringent budget cuts imposed by central government.

The council cabinet paper on the Medium Term Financial Plan dated 30 January 2024 discussed a balanced budget for 2023/24 financial year, but with a projected budget deficit of almost £51 million for 2028/29.

The waste service will continue to remain under pressure to deliver financial savings wherever possible.

In order to positively contribute towards the forthcoming budget deficit, we will endeavour to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much of our waste as possible, thus minimising the amount of residual waste destined for disposal which is more expensive.

This will generate savings and reduce our carbon footprint.

 

 

Our vision for waste is to provide a high performing, high quality, efficient and value for money waste service, that helps to make Dorset a great place to live, work and visit.

Our strategic aims are:

• to increase Dorset’s recycling and composting rate through the application of the waste hierarchy and fostering a circular economy
• to deliver an effective and cost efficient waste service which maintains high customer satisfaction
• to continue to reduce the carbon emissions from the waste management service to improve its impact on climate change
• to continue to meet our statutory requirements to remain safe and legal

These strategic aims will be delivered through the implementation of the following policy objectives outlines in the next sections. 

Implement and promote waste reduction and reuse initiatives to prevent the increase of household waste against a rising population and a growing number of households in the county.

We will:

• focus our waste prevention activities and initiatives around the four materials which still makes up the majority of Dorset’s residual waste. These are:
  • food waste
  • nappies
  • adult sanitary and hygiene waste
  • textiles
• undertake activities to reduce the amount of plastic based waste in the residual waste stream to decarbonise waste and ensure compliance with the forthcoming UK Emissions Trading Scheme
• continue our community engagement with a wide range of activities to encourage reuse, such as hosting give and take days, ongoing maintenance of the online ‘zero waste map’ and the provision of Dorset specific discounts/incentives towards reusable sanitary and female hygiene products. We will also continue to actively collaborate with the community to develop new initiatives
• focus our communication on the most effective channels to reach our residents in order to maximise engagement with the community. The channels we will use will include:
  • digital outreach through social media and the council website
  • engagement with local communities via interactive events, school visits, newsletters, and group talks
  • utilising direct mail, vehicle livery and bins stickers for targeted messages and reminders

Achieve a 65% recycling and composting rate by 2035 and ensure the optimum use of the recycling and composting services provided.

We will:

• continue our 'Right Stuff, Right Bin' campaign to enhance county-wide recycling efforts at the kerbside to maximise our capture of all recyclable and compostable material:
  • increase participation and correct use of the ‘Recycle for Dorset’ containers
  • implement the collection round improvement programme
  • focus on the diversion of food from the residual bin to the food bin
  • improve the quality of the recyclate by reducing contamination
• implement targeted initiatives to promote the HRCs and banks, aiming to elevate waste diversion within the waste hierarchy
• ensure we comply with the simpler recycling reforms by adding the kerbside collection of cartons and aluminium foil by 2026, and plastic films and flexibles by 2027
• continue to drive forward efficiency and performance of the ‘Recycle for Dorset’ service by assessing materials collected, collection methods and frequency of collections
• engage with our residents to identify barriers to recycling and develop ways to overcome these
• continue to divert textiles from the residual waste due to their high carbon value and explore kerbside collection options
• explore methods for separate collection and treatment of sanitary waste
• prepare for DEFRA's waste electrical and electronic equipment reforms by exploring separate collections for waste electrical and electronic equipment
• ensure our kerbside services are efficient to maximise funding opportunities under extended producer responsibility
• continue with the route optimisation project to identify and implement operational efficiencies to balance collection rounds and generate capacity for future changes
• reduce residual waste at HRC’s whilst maximising waste diversion and reuse
• continue to develop and implement littering and fly tipping campaigns to enhance the quality of the local environment

Ensure that residual waste treatment considers the waste hierarchy and cost in maximising the value recovered from waste in terms of resources and energy.

We will:

• increase the recovery and diversion of waste from disposal through increases in recycling and composting
• reduce, and ideally eliminate, plastic from the residual waste stream
• develop a contract/disposal strategy to enable the most efficient and cost effective solution for treating residual waste in Dorset. This strategy will ensure that the waste hierarchy, carbon impacts and cost will inform decision making on how we treat residual waste
• implement suitable long and short term contracts which diverts waste from disposal and considers the circular economy
• explore new and emerging technologies and treatment processes to identify future opportunities to increase the recovery of materials and energy from residual waste

Develop and enhance a network of local waste management facilities that enables Dorset to collect, deliver, store, transport and treat waste efficiently and effectively.

We will:

• continue to review our existing waste infrastructure and identify what changes are needed to meet our future requirements in Dorset. This review will include depots, transfer stations, HRCs, treatment facilities and any other infrastructure requirements. The review of our waste infrastructure will be conducted in conjunction with other Dorset Council infrastructure projects
• be data led and use route optimisation software to inform where our resources and infrastructure are best located to deliver waste services effectively. This will also be used to better understand the impact of the new simpler recycling reforms and the requirements of extended producer responsibility on Dorset. We will plan for any additional resources that will be required such as extra vehicles and collection staff
• continue to create the best opportunity for Dorset to secure a wider, and more flexible choice of treatment options for the waste we collect. This will involve:
  • continuing to engage with waste disposal contractors and treatment facility operators to understand their requirements for the delivery of waste
  • review Dorset’s existing infrastructure and identify any barriers or risks to securing future treatment opportunities
  • developing business cases and securing capital funding to upgrade existing or build new waste infrastructure sites in Dorset where a need is identified
• review the HRCs to ascertain any possible improvements to the sites in performance and operation
• aim to generate competition in future contract procurements by enabling waste to be bulked up and transported to regional facilities where direct delivery is not possible
• enable the waste service to accommodate future growth and any changes in the current methods of collection or materials collected
• explore opportunities to increase income generation through the acceptance of additional commercial waste streams at our waste sites

Deliver efficient and cost effective waste management services across Dorset that provide value for money

We will:

• endeavour to identify further budget savings and efficiencies within our existing service provision, by reducing, recycling and reusing our waste, therefore avoiding more expensive waste disposal costs
• ensure that our services are in line with the definition of a ‘efficient and effective’ service as detailed in the extended producer responsibility scheme
• work with organisations and the private sector to deliver schemes in partnership where possible
• consider all service delivery models to include in-house options, as well as the use of single or multiple contractors, across all areas of the service to enable the most efficient and cost-effective solution for Dorset
• focus on the procurement of the forthcoming waste contracts that will expire in the next two to three years. These will include the operation of the HRCs and transfer stations including haulage, collection and treatment of bulky waste and the treatment of recyclate, organics and residual waste
• endeavour to collaborate with neighbouring authorities to identify opportunities to develop waste infrastructure projects / arrangements that offer best value for money for Dorset residents

Provide a countywide cost-effective commercial waste and recycling service to support Dorset businesses.

We will:

• enable businesses to comply with the forthcoming simpler recycling reforms by providing a service for general waste, recycling, glass, and food waste. We will continue to grow our customer base through effective marketing and communications
• ensure our commercial recycling service can accept plastic films by March 2027 to be compliant with the simpler recycling reforms
• expand and improve the online services we offer our business customers so they can fully manage their commercial waste service at a time and place that suits their need
• use route optimisation software to optimise commercial collection rounds to maximise efficiency and absorb new customer growth
• ensure that the disposal and treatment arrangements for commercial waste and household waste operate in conjunction to avoid conflicts in terms of available capacity
• undertake engagement with businesses regarding their future waste needs and explore new commercial services that could then be offered e.g. skips, clinical/sharps, waste electrical equipment, textiles etc

Reduce the climate change impact of waste services in Dorset

We will:

• measure and monitor carbon emissions from Dorset’s waste management services to inform future strategic decisions. Our baseline data will be used to ascertain our annual progress with regards to our impact on climate change
• manage our waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy which is well aligned to positive climatic performance. The minimisation of waste and maximisation of recycling will have the greatest impact on climate change
• use route optimisation software to periodically review the efficiency of the waste collection rounds to minimise the potential carbon impact of future household and waste growth
• continually strive to reduce carbon emissions of the service by the introduction or expansion of renewable or low carbon energy generation and fuels by working with the council’s carbon team
• work and collaborate with our contractors as appropriate to pursue opportunities to reduce our climate impact where possible

 

This strategy review replaces previous strategies adopted by Dorset Council.

It sets out the strategic direction for Dorset Council for the longer term and it has a specific focus on activities over the next five years.

Waste management is recognised as a fast changing area, and it is expected that this will be particularly apparent over the next 5 years with the key changes around the simpler recycling reforms, extended producer responsibility and the emissions trading scheme forthcoming.

We will be prioritising these areas whilst also looking to the future with developments on infrastructure and contract procurement being key.

Actions from this strategy will be achieved and monitored through the production of an annual service plan, which will, in turn, be supported by team action plans.

The Dorset Council Waste Strategy will be reviewed in the event of any significant changes or otherwise again in another 5 years.

We are aware that the service needs to maintain as much flexibility as possible as there is significant uncertainty with the forthcoming waste reforms.

The next expected review date is 2029.