SITA Composting Facility Efficiency

Dear Newcastle upon Tyne City Council,

Over the last few years the in-vessel composting facility at
Ellington Road has had documented problems in the amounts it can
deal with and aeration of the tunnels.

Please can you supply the inputs and outputs (Tonnage, description
and where they come from /where they go to) for this facility over
the period 2007 until now.

Please can you also supply the documentation regarding the
proposals to upgrade this facility and when this is due to be or
has been carried out. Please can you also give details of the
expected, or if already achieved actual, impact of the
modifications.

Please also provide any projections you have for any increases
/decreases in the stated capacity as defined in the operating
license and the contract between the council and SITA and explain
any changes that may have arisen since since 2007.

Yours faithfully,

A Cooper

Dear Gemma Snowball at Freedomofinformation@Newcastle,

Please can you inquire as to where the reply to this query is as it
is now over the 20 days.

If I have not heard from you by the end of Thursday 22nd of April,
please take this as a request for an internal inquiry.

Yours sincerely,

A Cooper

Dear Freedomofinformation@Newcastle,

As explained previously I am now asking for an internal review as
to why no information relating to my request has been provided, now
timetable or anything other than a receipt of the request.

Yours sincerely,

A Cooper

Dear Newcastle upon Tyne City Council,

Please can you confirm that you have received this request for an
internal review on the lack of communication in relation to my
request for information on Newcastle's composting facilities made
some time ago and well outside the 20 days the law offers.

Yours faithfully,

A Cooper

Dear Newcastle upon Tyne City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Newcastle upon Tyne
City Council's handling of my FOI request 'SITA Composting Facility
Efficiency'.

My initial request was made in March 19th and by 20th April having
had no communication, I prompted a reply and a few days further
having not received any communication asked for an internal review
of this process. However there was no reply to this either, until a
call was made to the office dealing with this to highlight the
issue. The response I then received on the 3rd of June only stated
"I am very sorry that it has taken us so long to get back to you."
This does not explain why the response was so late, and most
definitely out of the legally required time period.

I also do not feel that the exemptions at section 41 and 43 for
commercially sensitive and confidential apply given that
information on this subject has previously been discussed in
minutes of the Environmental and Housing Scrutiny Panel and
referred to by BAN Waste in discussions and proposals held during
the recent Waste Strategy development.

The efficiency of this facility has been publically documented as
being significantly below its capacity of 40,000T. Therefore the
request for inputs and outputs prior to and after the
modifications, and therefore the change to the stated running
capacity are most definitely in the public interest as the public
pay for this service, and any additional service needed to
supplement this if this is not working effectively. I ask again
what change have the alterations made to the amounts going in and
out and the amount this plant can effectively treat -i.e. its
capacity.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/si...

Yours faithfully,

A Cooper

Dear Newcastle upon Tyne City Council,

I would like to add that the information supplied on the inputs and
outputs relies on the use of waste codes and does not give a
description that make any sense to a non expert, ie member of the
public making the request. The request was on the efficiency of the
facility and therefore how much material was classed as having been
successfully composted and put to a use and not just disposed of
through landfill after this treatment. The forms have both an
unknown destination or landfill as options which does not explain
much about the amount of "product" and hence the efficiency of the
process. Please can this information be provided in such a manner
as to be useful to the request made or the waste codes explained so
that the assessment can be made.

Yours faithfully,

A Cooper

Dear Newcastle upon Tyne City Council,

Please confirm receipt of my request for an internal inquiry and
when i can expect an outcome.

Yours faithfully,

A Cooper

Dear Peter Dinsdale,

Thank you for your email on the 2nd July regarding a review panel
meeting for my FOI request.

Has there been any progress on this? May I request that you get
back to me within the next week as to when I might hear the
outcome?

Yours sincerely,

A Cooper

Dear Rodgers, Gareth,

Thank you for your email and the results of the internal review. I
am happy to accept the information provided and the outcomes of
this review.

However I have found this to be a long drawn out request for
information you acknowledge should have been provided some time
back in March /April. I am concerned that there was no mention of
how to prevent these legal infringement in the future, and very
much hope you will take this opportunity to consider this.

Yours sincerely,

A Cooper