Waltham Forest Council is considering extending its contract with FCC Environment, the provider of neighbourhood services, following a year of positive performance and successful implementation of key service changes. The current contract with FCC Environment is for a period of 8 years, with the option to extend for up to a further 8 years. The Recycling Team are seeking to extend the contract for a period of 8 further years with FCC and will be taking this to Cabinet in September 2025; this follows negotiations between FCC and Council.
The Climate Scrutiny Committee reviewed FCC Environment's performance, highlighting achievements and areas for continued improvement.
The Public reports pack detailed that cleansing satisfaction remained high, with a 96% average for litter and a 97.5% average for detritus over the past year. The spring resident satisfaction survey showed a 7% increase in satisfaction with street cleanliness and a 6% increase in satisfaction with the council's approach to tackling fly-tipping.
Significant service changes, including the introduction of separate food waste collections and alternate weekly refuse collections, have yielded positive results. Tonnage collected since the changes has been favourable, with a decrease in refuse tonnage, an increase in dry recycling, and food recycling tonnages exceeding forecasted levels.
The council's primary objective until the contract's end in September 2027 is to reduce contamination in dry recycling bins. The aim of this is to assist with increasing the recycling rate. This will be achieved in multiple ways:
- Collections crews continuing to identify contamination and reporting when encountered
- FCC continual training and refresher training for their collection crews
- The recycling team continuing to liaise with managing agents to ensure communal bins are stored securely and that they are responsible for their usage
- Continuing to identify those kerbside properties who consistently contaminate, writing to them and following up with enforcement action both via Neighbourhood Officer and the Private Sector Licencing team.
The Additional Items collection service, introduced in March 2020, has collected 28.86 tonnes of textiles and shoes, 6.17 tonnes of batteries, 23.68 tonnes of small electrical items, and 10.2 tonnes of coffee pods.
Waltham Forest currently boasts three Green Flag parks: Ridgeway, Lloyd Park, and Leyton Jubilee Park.
The FCC contract, initially for eight years, includes an option for an eight-year extension, which the council is considering. Social value is a key component, with targets for apprenticeships, workforce volunteering, local employment, and local spending. FCC have committed to employing six apprentices from the borough on a yearly basis. This has been something that they have found tricky and over the course of the contract have at some points had 6 members of staff and other times the number has dropped to one. Poor retention of staff within the sector for apprenticeships is no uncommon and FCC are looking at other ways that they can achieve this target. The target of 40% local employment was surpassed and a 60% rate was achieved.
Workforce volunteering commitment is 2,688 hrs/year, in 2024 FCC managed to complete 1920 hours via an initiative to maintain planters on our high roads; originally designated as volunteering projects for residents. This was taken over part way through the year and this has continued into 2025, meaning that this target should be more achievable for this contract year.
Both FCC and The Recycling team are having a revived effort in the last two years of the contract to ensure that social value aims and ambitions are achieved.
Kirsty Waugh, Assistant Director for Environment and Climate NED, presented the report, which the committee reviewed and noted. The committee were asked to review this report and note the contents contained within, it does not include any recommendations.