CASE STUDIES: Identifying and delivering efficiencies in Waste
John Enright
22 Dec 2019
Introduction
Case studies – IDENTIFYING AND DELIVERING EFFICIENCIES IN WASTE
The Kent Waste Partnership ‘East Kent Joint Waste Project’
Hertfordshire Waste Partnership “Consortia for Recycling Materials”
The Lichfield & Tamworth Waste Partnership (Shared services)
Conclusion
Case study 1
The Kent Waste Partnership ‘East Kent Joint Waste Project’
East Kent waste authorities – the challenge and the approach
The Kent Waste Partnership (KWP) comprises the 13 principal councils of Kent.
These are the twelve district councils in their roles as Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs) and Kent County Council as the Waste Disposal Authority (WDA).
The KWP seeks out opportunities to deliver efficiencies to taxpayers. Significant gains can be secured at the time of major contract renewals. This is especially so at times when two or more councils have similar timescales for renewal though substantial work is required to ensure such opportunities are not lost.
Case study 2
Hertfordshire Waste Partnership “Consortia for Recycling Materials”
Hertfordshire waste authorities – the challenge and the approach
Hertfordshire Waste Partnership (HWP) is made up of 10 Waste Collection Authorities (WCA) and the County Council. Nearly ten years ago the Partnership adopted a strategic approach in pursuit of better market values for its collected recyclables as a result of being better placed to manage market risk. The HWP is one of the largest and most diverse local authority consortia in England and with the reduction in funding following the last Comprehensive Spreading Review (CSR), many more authorities are exploring their innovative approach to securing additional income by enhancing the value of their collected recyclables.
Case study 3
The Lichfield & Tamworth Waste Partnership (Shared services)
The Lichfield & Tamworth waste authorities – the challenge and the approach
An independent report, commissioned by the Staffordshire Leaders & Chief Executive’s Group in 2008, made the recommendation to assess the feasibility of potential opportunities for improved effectiveness and shared efficiencies between clusters of authorities within the Staffordshire Waste Partnership (SWP). Whilst all authorities within the SWP initially looked at what was conceptually possible, Lichfield District Council and Tamworth Borough Council identified a number of immediate options for further consideration. Lichfield and Tamworth are neighbouring authorities (number 8 and 23 on Figure 1), with Lichfield providing collection services for around 40,000 households and Tamworth around 30,000. At the time Tamworth was getting ready to re-tender its outsourced waste and recycling collection service, whilst Lichfield had a relatively good in-house service in place but were looking to make cost savings without compromising the quality of service. There had been some history of joint working between the authorities already, however there was clear commitment from both authorities to see how far their discussions in relation to the waste and recycling collection service could go.
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