Waste and Environment Programme Executive Summary

The objectives of the programme were set out in the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Strategy as follows:

• Delivering significant cashable efficiencies and ensuring that environmental impact from Waste Management is minimised
• To reduce the amount of waste being generated and diverted to landfill, increasing levels of recycling and re-use and making a positive contribution to improved carbon management

The basis for the programme was that national and regional spend analysis highlighted waste management as one of the highest spending areas. It is also an area which is under increasing pressure for environmental reasons with several challenging targets in relation to increased recycling and minimising of waste generation.

The Waste and Environment Programme delivered a range of improvements through a complex and diverse portfolio of projects that provided short term efficiencies through new operational tools and techniques as well as a range of strategic studies and educational initiatives designed to bring about behaviour change or influence the development of more collaborative long term arrangements for waste disposal and recycling.

There were 3 themes to the programme - "Service Delivery", "Strategic" and "Education and Behaviour Change". This reflected the Programme Board's view that some of the projects should be used to make efficiency savings but that collaboration and shared learning were also central to improvement of services.

There were few formal networks in the region and contact between LAs was fairly ad hoc with a lack of a local network to share ideas and experiences and to explore potential for collaboration. Although many councils were members of the APSE Performance Networks, this provided a "national" formal benchmarking opportunity but with limited likelihood that it would lead to collaboration. Establishing a contacts database was a priority for the board and, in setting this up, it was agreed that details of approaches to waste, contracts, performance information and other relevant would be included to enable the users of the database to identify and make contact with counterparts that had common problems or objectives.

The service delivery strand of the programme generated a range of projects that were based on initiatives that had been successful in one LA being applied in others and the programme funding was allocated to improve on the initial deployment and to collaboratively realise the benefits.

A fundamental principle of the programme was that use of consultants was restricted to areas of clear expertise or new tools and techniques - there was a basic requirement that any consultancy that was used must be done in a that embeds the skills and knowledge of the consultants into the LAs in the region so that there is no need to incur further consultancy fees once the RIEP funding has expired.

The programme also generated a number of studies including a review of recycling contracts and arrangements and challenged current practices to identify ways of increasing resilience in the services and improving the financial recovery of value from recyclates.

Partnerships were formed with two other organisations in the region (Waste Aware NE - "WANE" and Renew-CPI) who were recognised as having a role in the area of waste and environment. The Programme Manager also joined the stakeholder group of the NE Sustainable Resources Board which was established by GONE to provide a single voice for the NE Waste practitioners and contractors and to develop a Waste Strategy for the NE.

Project Management of the Route Optimisation project has been transferred to Newcastle City Council. Contact Mark.Mohun@newcastle.gov.uk for further information.