Bin collection and litter

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What is measured?

Performance indicator (A) below shows how much it costs the council to collect and dispose of refuse.

Indicator (B) below shows the cleanliness index of a local authority's streets and other relevant land. Litter is classified as smoking-related, sweet wrappers, drinks-related, fast food packages and animal faeces. Weeds and detritus, for example, sand, silt and other debris, do not form part of index.

How are we doing?

Our overall performance for bin collection has improved from 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.

Statutory Performance Indicator (A): The net cost per premise for refuse collection and refuse disposal.

Collection (combined household, commercial and household bulky uplift) per premise

2010/2011	£53.71
2009/2010	£57.88
2008/2009	£54.30
Council target for 2011/2012	£59.50
Trend

Disposal per premise

2010/2011	£81.91
2009/2010	£101.74
2008/2009	£89.11
Council target for 2011/2012	£136.60
Trend

The net cost of collection is all costs incurred by the council including external contractors charges for waste collection and disposal, less any income generated from commercial and domestic services for which charges are levied.

The net cost of collection was lower in 2010/2011 than in 2009/2010 and 2008/2009.

Refuse disposal includes the treatment of waste collected by the council and destined for final disposal in landfill. It includes any treatment of waste collected by the council which is recycled, for example, paper, cardboard, glass, textile, ferrous and non-ferrous metal, books, and wood and so on.

The net cost of disposal per premise was significantly lower in 2010/2011 than in 2009/2010 and similar to the figure for 2008/2009. The high cost in 2009/2010 was predominantly due to a one off investment aimed at improving recycling throughout Renfrewshire which should generate annual savings.

Statutory Performance Indicator (B): The cleanliness index achieved following inspection of a sample of streets and other relevant land

2010/2011	73
2009/2010	73
2008/2009	74
Council target for 2011/2012	70
Trend

The cleanliness index in 2010/2011 was same as in 2009/2010 but lower than in 2008/2009.

The index provides an indication of the standards of cleanliness in Renfrewshire.

What factors influenced our performance?

The frequency of uplift may affect collection costs.

A council that has a population which is scattered over a wide geographical area is likely to incur a higher cost of refuse collection than one where the population is relatively concentrated. However, in urban areas, the impact of restricted access to collection points can affect costs.

The method of treatment and/or disposal may affect gross disposal costs depending on the process/procedure used.

Some council's may have access to existing landfills which, although unable to meet the standards prescribed by forthcoming legislation, have sufficient remaining capacity to provide lower disposal costs. In these cases, the disposal costs will likely rise in the future when new, more expensive sites are required.

Intermediary treatment such as shredding, baling, composting and so on, will attract higher costs as a result of the capital and running costs.

The cleanliness index is affected by the council's policy on litter removal to a greater extent rather than street sweeping, and the lack of bins, especially in town centres. The index is based on the average score of seven cleanliness surveys undertaken throughout the year.

Awareness and education of the public is a key priority and this will be done through actions and campaigns to alert the general public to the problems associated with cleanliness and in particular dog fouling.

The adoption and implementation of enforcement powers available to the council will also affect the index.