Measures brought in to make it easier to report missed bin collections across the Havant borough

A new IT system is being brought in to make it easier to report problems such as a missed collection, and there will also be efforts to stop contamination which can see recycling sent to landfill. There should also be improvements with allotment occupancy and street sweeping, according to Havant Borough Council.

It said the big issues for the waste collection company Norse SE are missed bins and recycling contamination for people across the borough which includes havant, Waterlooville, Hayling Island and Emsworth. The council’s overview and scrutiny committee chair Councillor Richard Kennet (Con, Emsworth) said: “We wish it had happened sooner, but it’s happening to a great extent.”

New software will make it easier to report a missed bin and is called POWER BI. It can collect data for 16 different services Norse SE delivers from household waste collection, household recycling, street cleansing, grounds maintenance, seafront management, allotments, sports pitches to other peripheral services. The aim is to make the Norse workforce more efficient and cost-effective to deliver a good service for waste management including household bins, recycling and garden waste.

Environmental projects consultant David Roberston showed the committee some data analysis on service performance for household waste collection for the last three months, from November to January 2024. It showed an average of 285,095 bins collected per month with an average of 105 missed per 100,000 collections per month. Mr Roberston said: “As an industry standard that’s pretty good but you would ask me to do better. Garden waste has also been a much poorer performance but things have improved.”

Contamination of recycling is currently 17 per cent and he said it was important for the council to know about the environmental impact and the cost for Hampshire County Council. Mr Roberston said: “For every 100 tonnes of recycling collected, 17 tonnes shouldn’t be there. That is quite a poor performance.”

National contamination is between seven to 10 per cent and Havant Borough Council will be trying to reduce recycling contamination through information, education and encouraging householders to know what to recycle and avoid sending it to landfill. Contaminated bins are rejected for recycling at the point of pick-up by lifting the bin lid and looking inside. This could then see the recycling sent to landfill instead.

Norse’s new system will allow customers to call a contact centre and have real-time interactions and information on waste collection. Reporting a missed bin and knowing when and what will be done about it. There is also a route optimisation system which will maintain and improve productivity of refuse and recycling collection rounds, also reducing fuel usage. The new customer reporting portal means reports of service issues are managed directly within the in-cab routing system.Unmaintained allotments are also to be reviewed by the council by ward and re-allocated if required, as there is heavy demand from the waiting lists. Norse SE has been delivering a range of council services since 2016 and the company is jointly owned by the council and Norse Group.