NOTICE OF MOTION
This Council agrees to follow the example of 7 other
Councils in Wales to recycle nappies instead of sending them to landfill or
incinerate.
Minutes:
Council
considered the following Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor R.Davies and seconded by Councillor N.J.Hunt:-
‘This
Council agrees to follow the example of 7 other Councils in Wales to recycle nappies
instead of sending them to landfill or incinerate.’
Some
Members spoke in favour of the motion, wherein it was noted that between 5-10%
of landfill was nappies and that the indiscriminate dumping of nappies caused
the public great concern.
The
Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Engineering
reminded Members that the recycling of disposable nappies had been discussed
several times during the reviews of the Authority’s Waste Strategy in 2017 and
2018. Officers had costed the start-up
costs associated with the proposal which was in the region of £500k, which
included the purchase of bespoke vehicles and labour costs. It had been agreed that, in these times of
austerity, this was unaffordable. A
further proposal had been considered in relation to incentivising the public to
participate in a reusable nappy scheme, however this too was not
supported. Members noted that napoes included the issue of adult incontinence pads.
Officers
advised that there was a private company in the region which recycled the
nappies into fibre board. Unfortunately
there was at present no market for the additional fibre board. An indepth Impact
Assessment would be required to ascertain the environmental impact of current
incineration via MREC against the alternative production of fibre board. In relation to achieving the 64% recycling
target set by Welsh Government, the recycling of nappies represented a
potential additional 1.5% on the current position. The fine associated with not achieving the Welsh
Government’s target by 1.5% was favourable when compared to the costs of
setting up and running the scheme. The
Deputy Leader indicated that should Members wish this to be considered in the
future then it could be discussed when the next budget round is commenced.
Members
were reminded that the Authority did provide a weekly hygiene collection
service.
It
was suggested that the Motion be either withdrawn or amended to support the
recycling of nappies, in principle, and that Officers be requested to investigate
different options which might be adopted in the future when it was
affordable. Clarity was therefore sought
on the Motion.
Following
the above discussion Councillor R.Davies and
Councillor N.J.Hunt withdrew their Notice of Motion.