The Committee were updated Members on the digital improvements to the Street Cleansing Service. 

The Assistant Director (Operations) and the Waste Projects and Compliance Officer guided Members through the report and highlighted the following key points:

Bartec Street Cleansing Module

• Move street cleansing to a smarter service, Bartec Collective System, where the council will be able to move towards a more intelligence based proactive service rather than a reactive driven service.
• Refuse, recycling, garden waste and trade waste collections had used this system since April 2019. It transformed the waste and recycling collections and was easier for the public to report their bins, when full.
• The system sends out automatic reminders for residents to pay their garden waste subscription for their garden waste bin. Before this system the Team would send out notifications manually and the service would never have managed this through the pandemic. 
• The Bartec Collective System is a software system. Over 100 councils use Bartec Collective throughout the UK and it serves over 2m households.
• There will be an improvement by removal of paper schedules. Paper tickets were not always reliable, could get lost and would not be available for audit purposes. 
• Jobs previously issued to crews, unless urgent, would have to wait until the following day to be completed. With the new system, a service request on Bartec, is immediately allocated to crews whilst already out on the road.
• Customers will receive a real time update on fly-tipping once the job is completed by the crews.
• To close the call, the crews will need to take photographs of the fly-tipping, before and after, to ensure the work is completed to a good standard.
• Litter bins will be mapped and logged once the bins have been emptied along with the capacity. This will enable the emptying regimes to be revised dependant on the fill level, over time.  
• Bulky collections – the system will deliver dynamic routing of the bulky waste collections and will immediately update the customer once the job has been completed.
• The Street Cleaning Manager and Business Apprentice are currently mapping all the bins and other assets.
• Training is currently taking place within the workforce and it is anticipated that the fly-tipping and bulky waste clearances will go live within the next month with the remaining of the cleansing functions by April 2022.

Following questions and comments from Members, the Assistant Director (Operations) and the Waste Projects & Compliance Officer explained that:

• Refuse crews did not have to be first aid trained but the Assistant Director (Operations) would review this. There are trained first aiders out on the road that could respond immediately to any incidents, if required.
• Operatives will be given sufficient time to undertake the training and if required, one to one training, would be offered. The new system is very easy to use, generally two or three clicks with reduced writing. Operatives needs to be confident in using the system and report back to Officers and Managers with any concerns.
• To ensure customers, that do not use devices to report incidents, get feedback, the customer focused system will provide more time for supervisors to be out on the road and to allow them to go and meet or telephone these residents to give them an update.
• Members congratulated the team on this new system. The work to update customers will be well received and will make the system more efficient, more empowering for operatives and demonstrate working better.

Litter Bin Fill-Level Sensors

• The council has started a 12-month trial of Enevo litter bins using the fill-level sensors. This monitors the fill rates, calculates when the bin should be full and emptied and will monitor as the seasons change. 
• There are currently 100 litter bins with sensors in the borough and the system will prioritise emptying the fullest bins first to ensure they do not overflow and to minimise customer complaints.
• Only emptying bins when required will reduce mileage consumption and CO2 emissions.
• The rural Street Cleansing Team will trial 70 sensor litter bins within Meopham, Luddesdown, Vigo, Higham, Cobham and Shorne. This round covers the greatest distance to service all the bins.
• Larger 1100L general waste and recycling housings will be installed in our parks and open spaces. The Street Cleansing Manager will be able to analyse the data and weight to compare how quickly the recycling is filling compared to the general waste.
• There will be 20 more sensor bins located in urban locations that historically generate complaints. This will enable the Street Cleansing Manager to monitor the fill-rate of these bins to assess the bin capacity and emptying frequency.
• The Enevo bins were installed in December 2021 and data is currently being gathered. Operatives had been asked not to change the way they work or the frequency they emptied bins as from Monday, 21 February the predictive technology will provide operatives with routed daily emptying schedules to optimise efficiency.

Following questions and comments from Members, the Assistant Director (Operations) and the Waste Projects & Compliance Officer explained that:

• If certain bins indicate there is no requirement to empty them on a regular basis, the Street Cleaning Manager can look at moving the bin to a better location.
• Limits can be set on certain bins if they are known to regularly have dog mess or other contaminated waste left in the bin so they can be emptied at least once a week to avoid becoming a health issue.
• The sensors are powered by a battery pack which last 5 years.
• The Street Cleansing Manager and Team will be alerted if the bins are moved from their current location or they detect a heat source (fire). 
• 70% of bins, on average, were 70% full when emptied.
• The sensor litter bins have a rolling 30-day data capture so during the summer the bins will identify that the bin requires emptying much quicker than during the winter.
• The bins will provide a cleaner borough for residents and visitors and will improve street cleaning.

The Chair and Members thanked Officers and the Team for all their hard work and time spent getting these projects installed and in production. 

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.