Present: David Meade (Chair), Russell Thompson (Glaxo Wellcome), Barbara Judge (United Nations Association), Jon Fisher (Groundwork Kent Thames-side), Steve Weiss (National Power), Malcolm Still (Tredegar Allotments), Richard Wiltshire (QED Website Manager), Dave Thomas and John Prance (Dartford Borough Council).
1) Apologies for Absence: Eric Tomlinson and Julie Morton.
2) Notes from the Previous Meeting: Accepted. These are not available on the website because they have not yet been supplied in electronic form to the website manager.
3) Matters Arising:
a) Dartford Festival: All bids for space have been accommodated and some space remains. The KCC Recycling and Waste trailer has been booked, and DBC will have a display on air pollution and monitoring. Julie will be providing information on light pollution, there will be a "suggestions board" for people to note their own environmental concerns, in the expectation that direct answers will be forthcoming from QED at a later date, and questionnaires may be distributed in connection with the search for "best value" in recycling and street cleaning. Photos have been taken by DBC of recent fly-tipping incidents and these could be shown as well. The dumping of old tyres is proving to be a particular problem. DBC is currently pursuing four littering/fly-tipping cases through the courts. In connection with this, it was explained that KCC is about to launch a new "War on Waste", and will be working with schools and local authorities on this initiative, which will include posters on buses with a hot line number to call. The total cost is likely to be around £30,000, and DBC/QED may be asked to contribute around £1,000 to this. It was agreed that this should be brought to the attention of the QED Steering Group.
b) Recycling: More pallets have been supplied by National Power and another local company and delivered to Tredegar and Hawley Allotments. Dartford Road Allotments are now sourcing deliveries of used carpets from Nova Carpets. John Prance explained that DBC, Gravesham, Shepway and KCC are jointly investigating a trial home composting scheme, which will seek to establish whether home composters lead to a significant reduction in the flow to landfill, or simply assist households which would have composted their own waste anyway. Jon Fisher suggested that a scheme could be developed in which composters made from pallet wood (to HDRA's design) could be supplied to local households. Labour would be available from the New Deal Environmental Task Force. Richard Wiltshire suggested that supplying these composters in return for a contribution to charity might encourage uptake. John Prance noted that the volume of waste paper collected by the Borough's contractors has fallen from 2,320 tons per annum under the old scheme (which included cardboard) to around 1,250 tons at present. Schemes based on the supply of a box for pre-sorting of waste by householders look very expensive because of the labour costs involved in collection. In general, a collapse in prices for waste paper, green glass and other waste materials, fuelled by an increasing number of local authorities engaging in recycling, is undermining the economics of recycling: local authorities are now having to pay for the disposal of much recyclable material.
c) Environmental Monitoring and d) Quality Indicators: Duncan Phillips would be asked to report on the ongoing environmental audit in due course.
4) Terms of Reference: The Group agreed detailed amendments to the draft previously circulated, including a new name. It was agreed that David Meade would prepare a revised version for presentation to the next meeting of the QED Steering Group.
5) DBC Waste and Recycling Strategy: John Prance explained that the current waste collection and cleaning contracts expire on March 31, 2000, and DBC is now formulating the criteria for the new tenders, which are likely to combine collection with recycling, and cover a six year period. As part of this process a draft "Waste Management and Recycling Issues Paper" has been prepared and copies were made available to the Group for members to comment. In reading this draft, members of the group may also wish to consult the new DETR White Paper "Away with Waste" (copies available free from DETR at 0870-1226-236), which puts heavy emphasis on incineration, and is itself open for additional comments until September 17, 1999. KCC also prepared a strategy last year that is relevant, and can be made available if required.
6) Composting: This had been covered already under Item 4)b).
7) Future Business:
(i) Consideration of DBC's Waste and Recycling Strategy;
(ii) Pursue the possibilities of a domestic composting scheme in cooperation with Groundwork;
(iii) Cooperation with other local groups such as Neighbourhood Watch in combating street littering; and
(iv) Examine the prospects for composting green waste from DBC's horticultural contractor possibly on a local allotment site, the scheme to include the provision of a shredder that might be used for allotment-derived green waste as well. It was agreed that this should be referred to the QED Allotments Group for the formulation of a proposal.
8) Other Business:
(i) A request for assistance for the purchase of a mower for Tredegar Allotments was referred to the QED Allotments Group. Surplus mowers from the Cemetery are about to be disposed of to the highest bidder.
(ii) Dartford Road Allotments Association has already reported to the QED Health Group that it is in the process of devising a system of raised beds for disabled gardeners, and may require assistance with supplies of suitable timber in due course, although alternatives are being considered. A proposal for a visit open to all QED members to horticultural therapy projects in LB Sutton and Reading, which would inform the Dartford Road project, will go before the next meeting of the QED Steering Group.
9) Future Meetings: September 15 and November 24. It was agreed that future meetings will commence at 7.30.
END: Return to the QED Waste Management Group home page ...