Wiltshire Municipal Waste ContractAnnual Service Review 2012/13

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Contents Executive summary

Hills Waste Solutions LimitedWiltshire House, County Park Business CentreShrivenham Road, Swindon SN1 2NR

Tel: 01793 714450Fax: 01793 714475

www.hills-waste.co.uk

@HillsWaste @HillsGroup

Hills Group

Produced annually by Hills Waste Solutions Limitedfor Wiltshire Council

Printed on recycled paper.

Cover: Hills provides the kerbside black box collection to 200,000 households across Wiltshire

2

Contract year 17 (April 2012 to March 2013) saw the constructionphase of the Northacre Resource Recovery Centre (NRRC)1 completed. The first waste was received at the facility in March, with inputsincreasing throughout the commissioning period which is expected to be completed in October 2013.

The Lakeside Energy from Waste2 contract saw another 50,358 tonnesof municipal waste diverted from landfill, and the new collectionservices for garden waste and plastic bottles and cardboard helped toimprove recycling and composting rates, and resulting in 124,571tonnes of material being recycled, recovered or composted.

New initiatives were introduced at the Household Recycling Centres(HRCs), and the range of materials diverted from landfill was expandedto include used cooking oils and rigid plastics.

Together this resulted in less than 66,500 tonnes of municipal wastebeing sent to landfill in the year, only 27.4% of the total waste arising.

On the down-side, new guidance from the Environment Agency sawmuch of the sweeper and gully waste being sent to landfill later in theyear. Attempts will be made in the coming year to find new treatmentmethods for this material.

Hills Waste Solutions retained OHSAS18001, ISO9001 and ISO14001certification in the year, further demonstrating our commitment toproviding quality waste management services for the people andbusinesses of Wiltshire.

The Hills Group has made 2013 the Year of Health and Safety in a drive to further improve our excellent record in this important area.

Mike WebsterGroup director – Waste Solutions

Executive summary> Introduction

• Diversion rate

• Landfill diversion

• Analysis of recyclate

• Household recycling centres

• Kerbside black box recycling

• Mini recycling sites

Performance data> Numbers that add up

• 2012/13 Non-landfill achievements

• 2012/13 Non-landfill by material

• Total contract (municipal) waste to 2012/13

• HRC recycling rates 2012/13

• Mini recycling sites

• Recycling by service up to 2012/13 (tonnes)

• Recycling by service up to 2012/13 (%)

• What happens to my waste and recycling?

Performance overview> Developments

• Northacre RRC

• Amesbury waste transfer station

• Porte Marsh

• Parkgate Farm

• Newbourne Farm

• Lower Compton

• Kerbside black box recycling

• Household recycling centres

• Lakeside EfW

• Legal compliance

• Audits

• Complaints

• Odour

• Move to Improve

• Well Driven? Scheme

• Accidents and incidents management

• Campaigns

• Staff performance development programme

Community spirit• Sponsored site schemes

• Partnerships

• Charity / Group collections

• School paper scheme

• Supporting local communities

2–3

4-6

7-10

11

Note 1: Northacre Resource Recovery Centre

In April 2011 Hills Waste Solutions and Wiltshire Council agreed thefinal terms for a 25 year contract and the construction of theNRRC. The facility forms an integral part of Wiltshire Council’sstrategy to significantly reduce the amount of waste that is sent tolandfill and avoid the uncertainty of the ever increasing landfill tax.

The NRRC will use mechanical biological treatment (MBT)technology to process 60,000 tonnes of household waste eachyear of which around 84% will be diverted from landfill. Thistechnology uses natural microbes within waste to speed up thedecomposition process which takes up to 14 days. As the wastedries, it loses over 30% of its original weight. Once dried, it isrefined through a series of conveyors and screens to remove metalsfor recycling. It is from the remaining material that a solid recoveredfuel (SRF) is manufactured into a dry and sanitised material thatcan be safely handled.

The NRRC will produce around 28,200 tonnes of SRF each yearthat will initially be used in energy from waste plants in Europe untila local market has been established for this type of fuel.

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Executive summary

3

IntroductionThis is the eleventh annual service review produced by Hills. It reviewsthe waste management and recycling service provided by the companyto Wiltshire Council under the Wiltshire Municipal Waste Contract andhighlights particular challenges and successes during the year.

Diversion rateThe total municipal waste arising for the year was 242,328 tonnesof which 124,571 tonnes was diverted from landfill resulting in adiversion rate of 51.4% for 2012/13.

It should be noted that in addition to the 124,571 tonnes shownabove, a further 51,354 tonnes of waste was diverted from landfillunder two separate contracts for Lakeside EfW and the NorthacreRRC. Inclusion of this tonnage increases the landfill diversion rate to175,925 tonnes (72.6%) for 2012/13.

The total amount of non-landfilled waste this year reduced by 2,861tonnes (1.17%) compared to 2011/12.

A breakdown of statistical data can be found on pages 4-6.

Landfill diversionHills used alternative waste technologies alongside traditional recyclingmethods to maximise the amount of waste diverted from landfill. Thecompany continues to work closely with Wiltshire Council to ensure thatlandfill diversion targets set for 2014 and beyond are met.

Analysis of recyclateAn analysis of the materials received for recycling during the yearshows notable tonnage reductions compared to 2011/12:

• dry recyclate such as food and drinks cartons (-15.58%)

• large white goods (-10.94%)

• soil and rubble (-27.84%)

• TVs and computer monitors (-13.02%)

Some recyclate materials continue to show an increase in tonnagereceived compared to the previous year’s performance:

• cardboard (+ 21.28%)

• plastic bottles (+ 16.80%)

• cooking oil (+ 38.89%)

• timber (+ 73.77%)

• green waste (+ 15.46%)

Household recycling centres (HRCs)2012/13 saw the volume of material received reduce by 8.18% andsubsequently recycled material reduced to 47,978 tonnes from52,253 tonnes in 2011/12.

The HRCs experienced a notable reduction in volumes of plasticbottles and cardboard following the launch of the new WiltshireCouncil kerbside collection service. The introduction of a new rigidplastic service (835 tonnes since July 2012) helped to prevent a highvolume of material going to landfill. The introduction of an automatedvehicle counting system at HRCs has provided information foranalysis of visitor trends and volume of waste material per visitor, see more on page 8.

The used cooking oil service and the book recycling service continueto show good results; see more on page 9.

Kerbside black box recyclingDuring the year there has been a notable increase in materialcollected in the black box kerbside collection since the introduction ofthe council’s plastic and cardboard collections. Total kerbsidecollection increased to 69,269 from last year’s performance of54,020 (22%). The request for additional black boxes has increasedon average to 155 per week.

Mini recycling sitesThe volume of material received at mini recycling sites fell this year by33.6% (1,929 tonnes) compared to 2011/12.

The reduction in tonnage can be attributed to:

• the removal of the school paper service

• removal of sites not performing well

• residents being able to recycle more materials through the kerbsideblack box scheme and the new plastic bottle and cardboardcollection service which showed an increase of 15.5%.

Note 2: Lakeside Energy from Waste (EfW)

The EfW plant in Colnbrook, Berkshire, is a joint venture betweenViridor and Grundon Waste Management. The facility incinerates inexcess of 400,000 tonnes of waste per year, generating 38 megawatts of electricity for distribution via the National Grid. SinceFebruary 2009 50,000 tonnes of household waste has beendelivered to Lakeside EfW each year as part of a 25 year contractagreed between Hills Waste Solutions and Wiltshire Council.

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Wiltshire Year tonnes 11/12

Paper 14,702 15,228

Books 70 0

Cardboard 11,718 9,225

Glass 13,004 13,142

Cans 2,379 2,187

Plastics bottles 2,749 2,287

Tetra Pak 37 43

Rigid plastics 850 0

Scrap metals 3,051 2,938

Bicycles 1 0

Garden waste 41,335 34,945

Timber 1,482 389

Chipboard/MDF 7,482 8,151

Plasterboard 851 809

Rubble 13,251 13,840

Soil 2,536 3,129

Gully sweeping 5,345 5,794

Car batteries 137 142

Domestic batteries 22 22

Printer cartridges 2 3

Cooking oil 10 6

Oil 62 69

Textiles 997 978

Carpet 0 0

Furniture 93 75

Tyres 178 209

Gas bottles 52 59

WEEE (A) - large household appliances 845 937

WEEE (B) - fridges/freezers 705 743

WEEE (C) - TVs/PC monitors 1,069 1,208

WEEE (D) - Gas discharge lamps 6 6

WEEE (E) - Small domestic appliances 1,583 1,469

Clinical waste 7 6

Green waste rejects -55 -1,010

Wood waste rejects 0 -57

Rigid plastics rejects -15 0

Gully sweeping to landfill -963 0

Residual Tonnage ex Porte Marsh MRF -608 0

Residual Tonnage ex MRF -398 -322

SubTotal 124,571 116,651

Recycling initiative North East South West Wiltshire tonnes tonnes tonnes tonnes tonnes

Bring sites scheme 1,274 473 1,057 1,011 3,815

Kerbside mixed plastic/card 3,471 2,087 3,763 2,968 12,289

Multi-material kerbside 6,667 5,250 6,511 6,308 24,737

Kerbside green waste 8,068 6,112 6,805 11,258 32,243

Bulky collections 24 91 66 0 181

Street sweepings 1,634 783 1,461 1,468 5,345

Everleigh HRC 0 1,690 0 0 1,689.97

Devizes HRC 0 3,474 0 0 3,474.26

Marlborough HRC 0 2,296 0 0 2,295.56

Stanton HRC 5,819 0 0 0 5,818.64

Purton HRC 4,387 0 0 0 4,386.84

Honeyball HRC 2,810 0 0 0 2,810.18

Melksham HRC 0 0 0 4,594 4,593.53

Warminster HRC 0 0 0 5,073 5,072.71

Trowbridge HRC 0 0 0 6,431 6,430.77

Salisbury HRC 0 0 7,240 0 7,240.24

Amesbury HRC 0 0 4,180 0 4,179.82

Household clinical waste 0 7 0 0 7

Green waste rejects 0 0 0 0 -55

Wood waste rejects 0 0 0 0 0

Gully sweeping to landfill 0 0 0 0 -963

Rigid plastic rejects 0 0 0 0 -15

Porte Marsh/MRF rejects 0 0 0 0 -1,006

Non-landfill achieved 34,154 22,264 31,083 39,110 124,571

2012/13 Non-landfill by material2012/13 Non-landfill achievements

4

Performance dataNumbers that add up to a quality service andoverall performance for the year (to 31st March 2013)

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15.8

%7

8.6

%

76

.3%

75

.2%

76

.2%

77

.7%

71

.9%

76

.9%

79

.3%

80

.5%

80

.6%

77

.8%

13

.5%

14

.9%

19

.0%

16

.9%

18

.2%

15

.4%

14

.4%

13

.6%

11

.6%

10

.6%

14

.7%

Total contract (municipal) waste to 2012/13

78

0,7

22

73

9,3

32

81

2,3

52

98

0,5

52

07

8,4

62

30

7,9

52

10

6,2

62

25

1,4

42

25

7,9

72

50,000

Tonnes

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

95

8,1

22

19

99

/00

20

00

/01

20

6,4

98

19

98

/99

20

01

/02

20

02

/03

20

03

/04

20

04

/05

20

05

/06

20

06

/07

20

07

/08

24

4,9

33

20

09

/10

24

5,1

89

20

11

/12

24

2,8

76

20

10

/11

24

2,3

28

20

12

/13

20

08

/09

HRC recycling rates 2012/13

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

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mA

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E

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D

Mar

lbo

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War

min

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79

.5%

Tro

wb

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Me

lksh

am

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% Composted (contract)

Note: Municipal waste includes all household waste, commercial waste collected as part of the household round, rubble, soil, and waste arising from parks and highways. % Recycled (contract)

Mini recycling sites – recycled tonnes

75

1

1,7

42

1,4

43 1

,80

8

47

3

1,2

74

1,0

57

1,0

11

Tonnes

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

East North South West

Recycling by service up to 2012/13 (tonnes)

6,883

47,686

26,016

18,675

Tonnes

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

Street sweepings

Bulky collections

2011/12

2012/13

Kerbside-green

Kerbside-dry

Household recycling centres

Mini recycling sites

Recycling by service up to 2012/13 (%)

8%

47%

27%

15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

6%

45%

25%

17%

7,319

51,060

27,942

19,344

6,282

50,600

28,646

20,248

5,744

52,253

31,285

22,735

3,815

47,978

37,026

32,243

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

7%

47%

22%

18%

45%

27%

19%

5%

45%

26%

18%

4%

38%

28%

26%

3%7,826

47,247

27,045

14,769

5

Performance data

AnnualServiceReview2013_Layout 1 26/09/2013 06:07 Page 5

• Germany

• Newbury

• Newport

• Used in biomass thermal power station

• Kemsley, Kent

• Recycled into new cardboard packaging

• Aylesford, Kent

• Recycled into paper for newsprint

• Grantham, Lincolnshire

• Recycled into other gypsum products

• South Kirby, West Yorkshire

• Recycled into new glass bottles and jars

• Recycled for reuse in the paint industry or as a fuel

• 100% recycled into many different components

• CFCs removed, dismantled and recycled into various metals

• Parkgate Farm, Purton

• Made into Warrior compost and sold at HRCs

• Westbury

• Devizes, Wiltshire

• Recycled into equestrian surfaces

• Westbury

• Granulated and sold to make other plastic products

• Westbury

• Northacre RRC to create SRF

• Baled and sent to reprocessors

• Trowbridge and Pewsey, Wiltshire

• Warrington, Cheshire

• Recycled into new steel and aluminium products

• Sweden

• Recycled for use in the paperboard and gypsum industries

• Dismantled to remove recyclable components and recover lead, zinc, manganese, mercury, silver

• Good condition sent for reuse in developing countries, rest shredded for mops and cleaning cloths

• Matlock, Derbyshire

• Glastonbury, Somerset

• Recycled into lead products

householdbatteries

• Incinerator to generate energy

• Lakeside Energy from Waste, Colnbrook, Berkshire

• Lower Compton, Wiltshire

• Sorted into polymers and sold on worldwide market

• Loughborough, Leicester

• Nottingham

• Recycled into biofuel

• Exported to Far East

• Avonmouth, Bristol

Nottingham

Loughborough

Matlock

Grantham

Warrington

Bristol

Trowbridge

Glastonbury

Lower ComptonNewport

South Kirby

Westbury

Purton

Newbury

Aylesford

Kemsley

Colnbrook

Devizes

Pewsey

• Landfill

What happensto my waste and recycling?This map shows where household waste and recycling

from Wiltshire was processed during 2012/13

Performance data

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Performance overview

Performance overviewDevelopments in 2012/13

7

Northacre resource recovery centre (NRRC)The main construction phase was completed in December 2012 andtechnology providers, Entsorga, completed the installation of processequipment and plant in January 2013.

Members and officers from Wiltshire Council were invited to tour thefacility in January 2013 and the opportunity was repeated for theWiltshire press and media in early February.

The preliminary testing phase commenced in mid-February and duringthis time the NRRC accepted up to 40 tonnes of municipal waste perday. This proved valuable for both process equipment testing andtraining as it provided the newly recruited staff with a good insight intoto the requirements for running the facility.

The entire commissioning phase is set to last for approximately ninemonths and the project is due for completion in early October 2013.

Amesbury – waste transfer station

Planning permission for a new recyclables management facility andwaste transfer station at Mills Way in Amesbury was granted in April2012 and the site opened in February 2013.

The site, which replaces the existing facility at Thorny Down, isexpected to process 40,000 tonnes of material each year and is thenew hub for collection of household waste and recycling materialsfrom the south of the county. It also accepts green waste and bulkywaste items collected by Wiltshire Council from households.

Five drivers and ten kerbside loaders were recruited to man the five18-tonne kerbside collection vehicles that operate from the site andtwo existing staff from Thorny Down transferred to Mills Way.

Staff from Wiltshire Council’s waste operations team were inducted inthe new operational facility to familiarise themselves with the layoutand day-to-day operations on site.

To comply with planning requirements a pair of automated rollerdoors together with a traffic light control system limit the number ofvehicles allowed into the main hall at any one time. Activities withinthe hall are monitored by CCTV cameras to reduce the need forground staff to be within the same area as moving vehicles.

Automated weighbridges are located at each roller door to weighvehicles before and after they have tipped their loads.

The site’s operations have been certified to ISO14001.

Porte Marsh The Porte Marsh materials recycling facility3 processes approximately1,100 tonnes of plastic bottles and cardboard each month. The plantrecycles 95% of the material received, with the sorted plastic bottlesand cardboard products sent to UK based re-processors, see mapopposite.

Improvements to the facility3 have been identified and implemented,such as a new weighbridge installed in January 2013 which greatlyreduces vehicles movements in Calne. An additional NIR separator isplanned for the plant which is anticipated to improve the sortingefficiency and product quality at the plant.

Parkgate Farm The first deliveries of green waste were received at the newlyconstructed compost facility at Parkgate Farm, Purton in April 2012.Local Councillors and Wiltshire Council officers were given a tour ofthe facility in May 2012.

Tonnages into the site were seriously affected by the very wetweather during last summer. Despite these challenging operationalconditions, the facility has performed well. Warrior Compost, has beencertified to the BSI PAS 100 (2011) and the Compost QualityProtocol standard and accredited by both the Association for OrganicsRecycling and the Soil Association.

PAS 100 and the Compost Quality Protocol give the customer anassurance of quality and traceability via an independent assessmentduring the production cycle of the compost.

In addition the site’s environmental management system wascertified to the international ISO14001 standard following anextensive audit by an independent external certification body. Thisstandard ensures that key environmental issues are identified andthat procedures are in place to deliver effective management,prevention of pollution, environmental improvements and legalcompliance for the site.

A planning application for additional tonnages into the facility hasbeen submitted and this will allow Parkgate Farm to accept up to50,000 tonnes of green waste.

Note 3: Porte Marsh / NIR separator

Temporary planning permission, for a period of three years, wasgranted for Porte Marsh in 2011 and the site opened in October ofthat year.

Porte Marsh has sorting equipment that uses a series of conveyorbelts fitted with specialist sorting systems to separate cardboardfrom plastic bottles. The plastic bottles then pass through anoptical separator that uses Near Infra Red (NIR) technology toscan the plastic material and determine its molecular structure.Once the specific type has been identified, a signal sends a tiny jetof air onto the conveyor which ‘shoots’ the material off intoseparate collection bays.

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Performance overview (continued)

Reports from the staff on the initial set up of the system suggest -/+10% on numbers over the traffic counter. A periodic sense check on thenumbers is carried out by line management when requested. The datacollected shows:

• total monthly visit per site

• average kilogram weight per visit

• daily average visit over four weeks

• average hourly visit

A summary of the figures for the six months from October 2012through to March 2013 indicates that the HRCs receive more than100,000 visits per month overall. The highest volume of traffic is overweekends with the busiest hourly period recorded as being between11.00am and 1.00pm.

There is no conclusive data as yet to pick out the least visited days ofthe week, but data so far shows that in November the usage was loweron weekends, and in December it was lower on Thursdays and Fridays.This may be due to the long period of wet weather experienced duringthe latter part of 2012.

The data being collected is showing much higher visitor numbers thanthose recorded in previous surveys which were carried out usinghandheld counters and relied on a member of staff being free to observethe traffic flow while attending to any member of the public asking forassistance.

The benefit of collecting visitor data in this automated way will enablefuture communications to be targeted at those people who may beusing the facilities incorrectly and will also provide information on thecapacity to offer improvements to the wider community and additionalresources that may be required.

8

Newbourne FarmIn the early part of the year changes were made to the outlet for greenwaste generated in the south of the County. The on-farm compostingfacility at Grateley in Hampshire closed at short notice, andarrangements were made at an alternative site, Newbourne Farm, nearFordingbridge.

The operations at Newbourne Farm are accredited to PAS100 meaningthat the range of products can be sold as well as used on the farm itself,making the operation more sustainable.

Lower Compton Following submission of the original planning application the LocalPlanning Authority (LPA) requested further information in accordancewith Regulation 19 of the EIA Regulations 1999.

The additional information was submitted to the LPA in late 2012 andwas followed by a period of public consultation which ended on 7December 2012. The LPA will now take time to consider the informationsubmitted and a decision is awaited from the LPA.

Kerbside black box recyclingVehicles within the Kerbside operation are scheduled to be replaced on afive year replacement programme; however several vehicles have fallenbehind due to financial constraints placed upon the council contract. Thishas resulted in additional costs for above scheduled maintenance, andmajor repairs on these vehicles are repaired through Wiltshire CouncilFleet department.

Following the opening of the new facility at Amesbury and the relocationof part of the fleet to that site, the kerbside service has been able toreduce its fleet by one vehicle and three crew members.

Drivers have continued to receive training to comply with the EuropeanDirective that requires all drivers of LGV vehicles exceeding 3.5 tonnes tohold the Drivers’ Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC)4

leading to the issue of the Driver Qualification Card (DQC).

Household recycling centres

Hills staff attend the Wiltshire Council Innovation and Efficiencymeetings and a proposal put forward there saw the installation ofautomated traffic counting systems at all HRCs in October 2012.

These basic volumetric models provide traffic volume data via arubber road tube which feeds pulses of air through an internalswitch which is then converted into axle readings. The datagathered is updated hourly onto a spreadsheet and shared withWiltshire Council on a regular basis to highlight trends and give anoverall picture of the service performance.

Whilst the counters are regarded as industry standard and usedacross the UK in car parks, shopping centres and the like, thedisadvantage is that the counter cannot distinguish between typeof vehicle. As a result it is not possible to distinguish how manyvehicles are cars or vans and how many may be repeat visitors.

Note 4: Driver CPC

The Driver CPC has been introduced within the EU to improve andmaintain the professional standards of commercial drivers,improve road safety and improve the image of the transportindustry. All professional drivers of lorries who drive commerciallymust hold a Driver CPC qualification.

Existing drivers who passed their driving test prior to 1 January1997 may continue to drive on acquired rights (grandfather rights),but have five years from 10 Sept 2009 to complete 35 hours ofperiodic training to qualify for the DCPC, the cut-off date being 9 September 2014.

Number of visits to HRCs Oct 2012 – Mar 2013

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000Visits

Tonnage

Mar

lbo

rou

gh

Me

lksh

am

Pu

rto

n

Sal

isb

ury

Sta

nto

n S

t. Q

uin

tin

Tro

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rid

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War

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Ho

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ybal

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Eve

rle

igh

De

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s

Am

esb

ury

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9

Performance overview

Hills successfully passed the ISO14001 recertification audit in March2013.

We have deployed our management systems to the ISO standard atAmesbury RMF in February 2013 and are working to do the same atNorthacre RRC.

The delivery of staff training for health and safety, environment andquality management was measured against a 75 per cent KPI which wasexceeded.

ComplaintsA complaints management system has been put in place to ensure thatcomplaints are properly investigated, with the appropriate action takenand feedback given to the complainant.

Northacre fly issueDuring the exceptionally warm weather conditions of July 2013 HillsWaste Solutions became directly aware, and was notified of, increasedfly populations at the Northacre Resource Recovery Centre (NRRC) andin surrounding locations. Following thorough investigations it becameapparent that the NRRC was possibly one of the contributory factorsalong with other potential sources to the levels of flies in the vicinity.

A series of remedial works and pest control procedures were instigatedat the plant. Hills also distributed free fly papers to affected residentsand local business & setup a helpline for people to register concerns andrequest fly papers. In consultation with both the Environment Agencyand Wiltshire Council the fly issue was successfully resolved in the firstweek of August 2013 when the commissioning of the plant continuedand waste deliveries to the NRRC recommenced on Tuesday 6 August.

OdourFollowing the move of Hills’ composting operations from Lower Comptonto Parkgate Farm in April 2012, the number of complaints received withregard to odour at Lower Compton fell from 13 to 0.

However, even in the best managed facility, things may go wrong. Hillsexperienced a number of odour complaints directed at the Chapel Farmlandfill facility in the early part of the spring. All practicable measureswere taken to limit any possible nuisance including bringing forwardroutine maintenance works and undertaking additional gas extraction.Proactive engagement was also undertaken with the electedrepresentatives of the local community with local councillors visiting thesite to see the works undertaken. The EA also visited the site and thesurrounding areas on a number of occasions and scored the companyonce for odour.

Lakeside EfW Of the total 50,358 tonnes of household waste delivered to theLakeside EfW facility, 29,902 tonnes originated from the south and eastareas of the county via Thorny Down and subsequently Amesbury, withthe remaining 20,456 tonnes originating from the north and west areasand delivered from Lower Compton.

The agreed tonnage from Wiltshire Council was 32,000 from the southand 18,000 tonnes from the north, however with the collection changesin the south it became evident during the year that the tonnage ofhousehold waste being delivered to the transfer station was falling asresidents began to recycle more via the kerbside collections. Hills andWiltshire Council will continue to monitor household waste arisings fromthe south to consider changes to the agreed inputs from across thecollection areas.

Legal compliance Legal compliance is a top priority and Hills management systems aredesigned to ensure this is maintained.

The company continues to have good working relations with theEnvironment Agency (EA), who regulate the company’s sites. Regularliaison meetings are held with EA officers to discuss issues that mayarise and Hills has hosted EA officers on secondment. The EA checkscompliance with permit conditions and issues reports with CCS points ifa problem is identified: the higher the score, the more serious theproblem. Hills has set targets to measure performance and the resultsfor the period January to December 2012 show:

In future, the target period will be moved to align with the financialreporting year from 2013/14. It is expected that the CCS scores for thecompany will increase as the EA has stated that it intends to be morerigorous in its scoring. This has already been reflected with 12.3 CCSpoints scored by Hills since the start of 2013.

Audits

Internal audits: A risk based audit programme ensures that all Hillsprocesses meet the management system requirements.

Reprocessor audits: Hills also carry out duty of care audits to ensurethat waste managed by others on behalf of the company conforms tolegal requirements. A total of 42 audits were carried out on thecompanies managing the recyclates produced as part of the contractduring the year.

External audits : Hills appointed SGS, an independent body, to carryout external surveillance audits every six months to ensure that thecompany’s management systems continue to meet the ISO14001,ISO9001 and the OHSAS18001 standards. At each visit SGS analyses aselection of sites and processes, ensuring that all sites and processesare visited over a three year cycle.

Annual target

Achieve no prosecutions, fines ornotices served on the company.

Achieve less than 20 CCS points inthe calendar year for HWS.

Achieve less than 0.27 CCS points per inspection in the calendar year for HWS.

Performance

Yes.

Yes: 4.1 points received; Waste Operations 4; L&R 0.1;Closed landfills 0.

Yes: 0.053 points per inspection.Waste Ops, 0.085; L&R 0.006; Closed landfills 0.

No of Major non- Minor non- Opportunity foraudits1 conformance conformance improvement

Environment 23 0 13 97

Quality 0 0 0 6

Health & Safety 12 0 17 27

TOTAL 45 0 30 1301 Combined environmental and quality audits were started in January 2012.

Number Major non- Minor non- Opportunityof processes conformance conformance foraudited improvement

ISO14001Environment 15 0 0 6

ISO9001Quality 12 0 0 1

OHSAS18001Health and 12 0 16 0Safety

Service Number of Number of Ratiovisitors or complaintscollections

HRCs 1,370,000 21 1.53 per 100,000 visitors

Kerbside 5,200,000 24 0.46 per collection 100,000 collections

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Performance overview

Move to ImproveAll Hills staff are encouraged to put forward suggestions on how thebusiness could improve in the areas of efficiency, health and safety,environment and quality. During the 2012/13 contract year 79 ideas wereput forward by staff, of which 33 were recognised as good ideas and ofwhich four were relevant to the contract. One of the suggestions putforward was to discourage non-Wiltshire residents from using the county’sHRCs and signage carrying this message was erected at all 11 HRC sites.

Well Driven? SchemeFleet membership of the Freight Transport Association’s (FTA) WellDriven? Scheme was renewed for a second year covering all thecompany’s vehicles that deliver goods and services. The scheme aims toenhance road safety and encourage better driving. In addition, Hills driversalso agree to abide by a charter for good driving.

During the year January 2012 to December 2013 a total of 15 reportswere received on the fleet of 127 vehicles. Of these, eight were eithercompliments or were not supported upon investigation.

Accidents and incidents management

RIDDOR: Despite reducing RIDDOR reportable accidents involvingmembers of the public visiting our sites by 50 per cent, there was anincrease in reportable accidents in 2012/13. A number of improvementsand initiatives are being developed which will enable the company toreduce the RIDDOR figure in the coming year including a new system forreporting near misses and improvements to the accident investigationtraining provided to our managers.

Environment: The management of leachate on landfill sites is regardedas posing a high environmental risk and Hills uses a comprehensive riskassessment process to minimise such risk.

In 2012/13 Hills has reduced the number of high priority environmentalrisks at its landfill sites from 26 to eight and will continue to work toreduce risks further.

Emergency procedures and business continuity:A comprehensive review of both the emergency procedures and businesscontinuity planning has taken place across the company over the past 12months.

A major incident simulation exercise was carried out at Purton transportoffice to test procedures and provide training to key staff with furtherexercises are planned at other facilities. The updated business continuityplan was reissued to staff and training provided.

CampaignsPublicity campaigns were undertaken to promote recycling awarenessamongst the Wiltshire residents as well as highlight new services thathad been introduced.

Plastic bottle and cardboard kerbside collections – acompetition was held for winners to visit the Porte Marsh recyclablesmanagement facility and observe how the latest technology is usedto sort plastic bottles and cardboard collected from Wiltshire homes.Entrants were encouraged to make use of various social mediachannels to submit their answers. A total of 28 members of the publicvisited the site on two separate occasions.

Compost – schools across Wiltshire were offered the chance tocollect compost from household recycling centres to use in schoolgardens and then submit pictures of what they had achieved for achance to win £50. The results of the challenge and a picture of thewinning entry, submitted by St Dunstan School in Calne for their newsensory garden, were featured in the local newspapers.

Reusable books – media coverage, including an interview on BBCRadio Wiltshire, was generated to mark the occasion of the first 50tonnes of books collected across Wiltshire for recycling.

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Used cooking oil – Hills worked in partnership with Living Fuels torun a three month campaign where every litre of cooking oil broughtto household recycling centres for recycling generated a 25 pencedonation to Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA). 5,200 litres of usedcooking oil were collected during the campaign – a massive 107%increase when compared to the previous three month period andraised £1,300 for WAA. The campaign generated 22 pieces ofpositive coverage in the regional Wiltshire media and featured on BBCRadio Wiltshire and Heart FM. Nationally the campaign was coveredby both the recycling and public relations trade media where it washighlighted as an example of good practice.

Staff Performance Development ProgrammeThe company values its staff and realises that their performance has asignificant effect on the business. A review of the company’sperformance development programme was undertaken during the year,and included the following:

Competency Framework: a review of all basic skills andcompetencies for all positions in the company was agreed andimplemented.

Training Review: in-house training materials were reviewed and newmaterials were commissioned. ‘Train the Trainer’ support was offered toall relevant staff to ensure that training would be delivered effectively.

‘Introduction to Waste’ training was provided to staff who were new tothe waste industry and training in the Performance DevelopmentProgramme was provided to all managers who would deliver annualappraisals.

Annual Appraisals: an annual appraisal system was rolled out acrossthe company.

Performance overview (continued)

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Community spirit

Community spiritSponsored site schemesHills have continued the Sponsored Sites Scheme for charity andcommunity groups in the west area. Sites that collect more than fivetonnes per annum are paid £10 per tonne in exchange foraccommodating the recycling bins and providing a tidying service. Thefund paid out £808 in 2012/13. The reduced payment is due to themajor review of the service carried out by Wiltshire Council andfurther sites have been removed on request by the site owners. Thisscheme is no longer accepting new applications.

PartnershipsHills has established partnerships with a number of local charitableorganisations whose work supports the principles of the wastehierarchy and reduces waste to landfill. Examples include:

• Jole Rider Bikes4Africa – bicycles collected at householdrecycling centres are first repaired at a local prison by inmates aspart of a skills training programme and then shipped to The Gambiafor school children to use as transport to school

• Refurbiz – training and employment is provided through the repairof recycled white goods which are in turn offered for sale to thoseon low income or benefits

• Tools for Self-Reliance – reusable hand tools are collected atHRCs and transported by Hills to a refurbishing centre inSouthampton. Thereafter they are provided to artisans in ruralAfrica communities to enable them to earn a living and becomeself-reliant.

Initial discussions on the potential for reuse programmes to beestablished at HRCs have been held between Hills, various charitableorganisations and Wiltshire Council, however these remain in the veryearly stages and no final decisions have been made.

Charity/Group collectionsThere are four charitable groups in the west area who receivepayments at £10 per tonne for paper and textiles collected. In2012/13 the payments to these organisations were as follows:

• British Heart Foundation – £423

• SCOPE – £129

• Southwick and North Bradley Scouts - £1,009

• Save the Children - £339

School paper scheme Hills provided and collected paper at all participating schools fromApril 2012 to July 2012. Tonnage for the these four months came inat 109 tonnes for which the company presented funds to the valueof £10 per tonne to the participating schools. The paper collectionscheme has now been withdrawn from the contract with agreementfrom Wiltshire Council due to changes in the Waste Regulations,however Hills continue to provide advice on waste management andoffer a commercial comingled collection of recycled material toschools wishing to maintain a collection service.

Supporting local communitiesOver the contract year Hills has channelled more than £1,100,000 offunding into projects, events and programmes that support localinitiatives, protect and enhance wildlife habitats and promotestronger communities across Wiltshire.

Landfill Communities Fund (LCF)5

Long-standing partnerships with Community First, Wiltshire WildlifeTrust and the Cotswold Water Park Trust have enabled Hills tomaximise the funds available through the LCF and ensured thatthose communities who live and work in the vicinity of Hills’operations benefit from the funding. A breakdown shows that:

• 325 school children from 17 schools visited our materialsrecycling facility at Lower Compton and received lessons insustainable living, climate change, energy efficiency, composting,litter, waste and recycling through our support of a schools’education programme delivered by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.

• £260,000 has created or upgraded 10 local facilities where allmembers of the community can enjoy recreational and leisuretime.

• £340,000 was granted to 15 village halls to enable them to beundertake refurbishment programmes to upgrade facilities suchas kitchen and toilet areas, create suitable access for the disabled,and improve energy efficiency.

• Grants totalling £430,000 were made to environmental bodiesresponsible for the management and maintenance of numerousnatural and man-made wildlife habitats and reserves acrossWiltshire and the Cotswold Water Park.

Direct fundingIn addition to LCF grants, Hills continues to support a wide variety ofcommunity causes. In the past financial year direct sponsorship hasbeen given to numerous local sports clubs, arts and music events,village and town fetes and gatherings, and projects to creategreener areas.

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Note 5: Landfill Communities Fund

Tax on landfill waste was introduced in 1996 as a means to reducethe amount of landfilled waste and to promote a shift to moreenvironmentally sustainable methods of waste management.

The LCF is an innovative tax credit scheme that enables operatorsof landfill sites to contribute money to enrolled EnvironmentalBodies (EBs) to carry out projects that meet environmentalobjectives contained in the Landfill Tax Regulations.

The Government saw the LCF as a way for Landfill Operators (LOs)and EBs to work in partnership to create significant environmentalbenefits and jobs and to undertake projects which improve the livesof communities living near landfill sites.

LOs can contribute up to 6.8% of their landfill tax liability to EBs,and reclaim 90% of this contribution as a tax credit. They may bearthe remaining 10% themselves, or else an independent third partycan make up this 10% difference to the LO.

Since the inception of the scheme, Hills has contributed more than£10 million to EBs in Wiltshire.

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Hills Waste Solutions LimitedWiltshire House, County Park Business CentreShrivenham Road, Swindon SN1 2NR

Tel: 01793 714450Fax: 01793 714475

www.hills-waste.co.uk

@HillsWaste

Hills Group

Part of the Hills Group Limited, Registered in England and Wales 571289, Registered office: Ailesbury Court, High Street, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1AA

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