Oldham Council innovates with dual-use compostable carrier bags

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1 Oldham Council innovates with dual-use compostable carrier bags Summary Key Facts Oldham Council experienced high levels of contamination in its household organic waste collection service. On review the contamination was due to plastic bags being used by households to contain food waste for recycling instead of compostable liners. The contaminated organic waste loads were being rejected by their in-vessel composter (IVC) operator, resulting in more waste being sent to landfill, higher disposal costs for the council and reduced feedstock for the IVC plant. The council collaborated with local businesses and bag suppliers to trial low cost dual-use compostable carrier bags with households in the areas where the highest contamination was occurring. This was accompanied by an intensive and targeted communications campaign. The trial reduced incorrect bag use, benefitted households, retailers and the IVC operator, and saved the council money. Prior to the intervention, 19% of participating households in the target area (12,463 households) used compostable liners for food waste recycling. Dual-use compostable carrier bags sold for 3p each at the till in 43 local retailers. Following an intensive communications campaign, 96% of participating households now use compostable liners. Avoided disposal costs to the council (projected for 2014/15) are estimated to be 282,029.

2 Oldham Council innovates with dual-use compostable carrier bags 2 Introduction Oldham Council received support from WRAP when it first introduced food waste collections in 2007, which later became a mixed garden and food waste service in When setting up the service, the council liaised with the IVC operator Viridor Laing through Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority to ensure the information provided to residents about liners was suitable for the IVC treatment process. Households were provided with an initial roll of 26 compostable liners and advised to purchase their own, use newspaper or place the food waste directly into the bin once the initial supply had been used. However from January 2011 onwards the council experienced a high number of rejected loads at the IVC facility due to residents using plastic carrier bags instead of compostable liners. This impacted negatively on recycling rates and increased disposal costs. About Oldham Oldham Council: collection scheme in place: alternate weekly dry recycling and residual waste; weekly mixed garden and food waste to the majority of households; recycling and composting rate: 36% in 2012/13 3 ; and food and garden waste disposed of to Viridor Laing s IVC plant contracted by Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Aims Reduce plastic bag contamination in the organic waste stream. Provide residents with cheaper compostable liners which are suitable for the treatment process. Oldham Borough: located in the North West of England; Deliver financial benefits to local businesses and the council. predominantly urban with some rural areas; population of 226,000 in 94,000 households 1 ; 24% Black or minority ethnic (BME) population 1 ; 11% of the population whose main language is not English 1 ; and 10% unemployment 2. 1 Office of National Statistics (ONS), March ONS, Local Authority Waste and Information Portal, WRAP

3 Oldham Council innovates with dual-use compostable carrier bags 3 Approach taken Through checking the quality of loads from each collection round, the council identified eight rounds where plastic bag contamination was high and therefore causing major issues for the IVC. These rounds served 12,463 households of innercity terraces with 80% BME population, including some areas in the top 5% of the most deprived areas in the UK. The council knew from survey work that more than 85% of Oldham households who recycle their food waste used a caddy liner. From community engagement work in the target area, council officers were aware that the upfront cost and availability of a roll of compostable liners and a lack of understanding about food waste recycling were major factors in low usage of compostable liners. The council wanted to implement a project that would give households better access to locally sourced, individual, cheaper compostable liners to encourage them to recycle their food. be used to carry shopping home and as caddy liners. The council approached the Co-operative to develop this scheme because of their local connection to Oldham. The council was the first local authority to partner with the Co-operative in this way; now compostable carrier bags are sold in over 640 Co-operative stores in over 100 local authorities throughout the UK. For this project, the council worked with local shops because the Co-operative stores weren't located in all the target areas and the householders tend to shop daily at local retailers rather than using larger national supermarkets. The council calculated that based on its current disposal costs and the cost of planning and implementing the new scheme, it could afford to subsidise compostable carrier bags and still make a substantial saving. This would be achieved through the increased disposal of organic waste through IVC with less being rejected to landfill. It worked in partnership with local retailers, bag manufacturers and suppliers to provide low-cost bags in local shops, with appropriate instructions and branding for the dual-use bag. The dual-use compostable carrier bags were delivered to retailers by the bag supplier at a cost of 6p per bag, and subsidised by the council at a rate of 3.6p per bag. The retailers sold the bags upon customers request at the till for 3p each. The charge of 3p to the customer was a much lower price point than buying a roll of 20 compostable liners which would typically retail at around 2.20, and represented a lower cost per liner i.e. 10p each. The charge and the need to request the compostable carrier bags was intended to limit the likelihood of them not being used as liners and mistakenly being disposed of in the plastic recycling stream or to landfill. To tackle the cost and availability of compostable liners, the council decided to build on a previous collaboration with the Co-operative supermarket to provide dualpurpose compostable carrier bags that could Talking to households A door to door engagement team was recruited from the target area who spoke the main languages of the local residents, to spend at least a week in each round area.

4 Oldham Council innovates with dual-use compostable carrier bags 4 The scheme was also promoted on the council website and through posters displayed in participating retailers windows. The council undertook a focussed communications campaign within each area: 1) Each round was monitored to identify which households were using plastic bags to contain their food waste for recycling. 2) Focussing on one round at a time, a door to door engagement team visited these households to explain to residents the benefits of not using plastic bags and where dual-use compostable carrier bags could be purchased. To support this activity an information pack was provided containing: engagement team, to discuss any issues they may be having with the scheme. 5) If households who had previously received green tags continued to present food caddies containing plastic bags, their food waste was not collected and their caddies were red-tagged around the caddy handle with the text below. The tag also gave council contact information for compostable carrier bag stockists, and the households were visited by the door to door engagement team. an information leaflet; a sample of the new compostable carrier bag; vouchers for a further five free compostable carrier bags redeemable at local community stockists (listed within the information leaflet above); and a map showing all the local community stockists in the area. 3) On the next collection day any food caddies containing plastic bags were emptied and green-tagged around the caddy handle with the text below. 6) The data from the round showing where food waste had been incorrectly presented was analysed and if the proportion of residents using the correct bags was 75% or higher, this was deemed satisfactory and the door to door engagement team moved to the next round/area. If the proportion was below this threshold, the red tagging stage was repeated until the threshold was reached (although this wasn t necessary see Results section). Results Prior to the intervention, 19% of participating households in the target area used compostable liners for food waste recycling; 81% used plastic bags. As a result of the campaign, incorrect bag use fell to 4%; 96% of participating households are using compostable liners 4) All households who received green tags were visited again by the door to door at the time of writing.

5 Oldham Council innovates with dual-use compostable carrier bags 5 Cost of implementing the trial (communications campaign and vehicle costs; overhead staff time not included): 90,000. Cost of maintaining the subsidy (projected for 2014/15): 19,450. Avoided disposal costs to the council (projected for 2014/15): 282,029. residents simply didn t know why they shouldn t use plastic bags, or that compostable liners would be effective in containing food waste. They were happy with the convenience of now being able to obtain the compostable carrier bags from their local shop. The council shared the success of the scheme with residents through their website and press releases. The benefits for the key stakeholders included: households cheaper compostable liners that could be purchased individually, available from 43 outlets in their local area; better understanding of what happened to their food waste; retailers increased footfall; promotional opportunities through the information leaflet for residents, posters about the scheme to display in their shops and on the council website; the council reduced disposal costs; establishing and developing relationships with retailers and households; and The majority of retailers were happy with the scheme; in the first round roll out footfall increased by on average 10%. The council feels the scheme has been a great success for all partners and the residents. This is due to careful thought being given to the needs of the residents and retailers, and the requirements of the food waste recycler. The council plans to work with postgraduate students to consult with key stakeholders on the impacts of the project, and is applying for government funding to increase participation within the target area. the IVC operator greatly reduced contamination resulting in fewer rejected loads and therefore more feedstock. Anecdotal feedback from residents has also been positive; the purpose of the project and the communication methods used were well received. When the food waste collection scheme was introduced, many

6 Key learning points Liaise with the food waste recycler and waste disposal authority when contamination and/or increase in participation to pay for the on-going investment in liners. developing a food waste collection service and/or when considering alternative liner supply models to determine which types of liners are accepted. Understand the motivations for and barriers to recycling food waste for residents. In this instance, having a low price point for the purchase of a compostable liner (i.e. spending 3p for one liner not 2.20 for a roll of 20) was important. Also fitting in with residents shopping habits made this model workable. Use appropriate communication methods for residents e.g. door to door engagement provided by local residents who can speak the same languages. Understand the business case of implementing and maintaining this kind of service. This will need to consider the local authority s refuse disposal and food treatment costs balanced against project implementation costs and whether there is sufficient decrease in We are incredibly happy with the way in which the project has worked so far. We have been really impressed with the way the residents have got on board with the compostable carrier bags and their continued usage of the food waste collection service. Mark Husdan, Operations & Development Manager, Oldham Council It has been great to see Oldham Council develop our original collaboration into this successful scheme working in partnership with local businesses, residents and the IVC operator. This fits with the Co-operative s values and principles which include helping customers save money, and reducing environmental impacts. Iain Ferguson, Environment Manager, The Co-operative food While we have tried to make sure this case study is accurate, we cannot accept responsibility or be held legally responsible for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. You can copy it free of charge as long as the material is accurate and not used in a misleading context. You must identify the source of the material and acknowledge our copyright. You must not use material to endorse or suggest we have endorsed a commercial product or service. For more details please see our terms and conditions on our website at