Senior councillors set to discuss the council’s delivery of waste management services in response to Covid-19

Over the past 20 months, the city’s waste management service has faced significant challenges ensuring the service remained resilient from the ongoing pressure of the pandemic, making sure Covid-19 safe working requirements were adhered to and the bins were still being collected. An issue which has more recently been compounded by the national LGV driver shortage.

Despite these challenges, kerbside collection of black and green bins continued throughout the pandemic, with only the start of brown bin collections in 2021 delayed by a few weeks. The service’s commitment and hard work demonstrated through Leeds’ official bin collection rate, which remains at 99.85 per cent for 2021 dipping by only 0.08 per cent from pre-pandemic levels.

The report, to be discussed by the council’s executive board next Wednesday at Civic Hall, also outlines the significant increase in household waste during the pandemic as people spend more time at home. Highlighting that the service was able to collect 30,000 tonnes of extra waste presented during the last 20 months, including 2,500 tonnes more garden waste than usual from the city’s brown bins in 2021 alone. This is equivalent to crews emptying an additional 13 million wheelie bins during the pandemic.

Commenting on the work of the waste management service during the last 20 months, Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment and housing, said:

“I’d like to start by extending my gratitude to everyone in the waste management service for their commitment and hard work throughout the last 20 months. They have allowed our city to keep moving, working at the front line throughout the pandemic, ensuring the city’s bins continued to be collected despite the challenge of multiple lockdowns and restrictions.”

The continued logistical challenges posed by the pandemic and the significant increase in the volume of household waste requiring collection and disposal, come at a cost. The council has therefore set aside around five million pounds this year to ensure the service continues to be able to meet these challenges.

A significant impact causing an increase in cost for the service, is the huge increase in volume of household waste. An additional £2.23 million is anticipated to be needed simply to pay for the processing and disposal of this additional waste, mainly at the Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility (RERF). A further £1.03 million is required for the hire and running costs of providing the additional wagons needed to collect the extra waste and to ensure there were enough spare vehicles to cope with Covid vehicle cleaning requirements.

Whilst £1.89 million is required for the cost of providing additional refuse staff and cover to deal with the increased volume of waste and to ensure that the service can continue to cover staff who are required to isolate.

Thanks to effective management of the extra staffing needs and collaborative working with the unions, the service was able to avoid any workplace outbreaks of Covid-19 in the service. A significant achievement for a key front-line service of over 350 staff, who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic.

In response to the need for extra resources for the service, Councillor Mohammed Rafique, said:

“The increased anticipated costs are necessary as we continue to adapt to face the ongoing challenges faced by Covid-19. When the service had its initial budget set for the year, it didn’t include any additional Covid related costs, and so it was crucial that we gave the service the financial support needed to ensure that they could keep working throughout the pandemic. For the next financial year, we will be looking to include the anticipated cost of managing and disposing of the extra waste being produced by homes across Leeds in the initial budget, rather than something we report as an overspend during the year.”

To see the full report, go to https://bit.ly/3y9kQCH