Dear Sir/Madam 

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004 – INFORMATION REQUEST - REF NO
- FOIS441 (please quote in correspondence) 

I acknowledge your request for information under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 dated 07/04/2021.

Your request is being considered and if this information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the EIR 2004, subject to the information not
being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

Information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size (12 pt) or
verbally if you prefer, subject to any exemptions being applied.  If you
have not specified how you wish to receive the information, we will choose
the most appropriate format. For your information, the Regulation defines
a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you
have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption
categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be
issued a Refusal Notice, if this is the case, and advised of your right to
appeal. 

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

There may a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and
you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be
paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day
time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

Please be advised that in line with London Borough of Sutton’s commitment
to transparency, in due course an anonymous copy of your request and our
response may be published on our website. 

Yours sincerely

FOI/EIR Admin Officer

London Borough of Sutton

show quoted sections

Dear Owen Lewis

I refer to your request for information received on 07 April 2021
concerning Municipal Waste to Landfill

Your request

We are interested in the level of landfill your authority (or authorities
within your waste planning area) uses.

1. Please confirm whether your authority (or authorities within your waste
planning area) sends waste to landfill?

Yes (see below)

2. What was the % of waste sent to non-hazardous landfill over the last
five years – by council tax year?

Year             Region           Authority Percentage of
municipal waste sent to landfill

2015-16 London Sutton LB 63.0%

2016-17 London Sutton LB 57.9%

2017-18 London Sutton LB 45.6%

2018-19 London Sutton LB 26.0%

2019-20 London Sutton LB 3.8%

3. Please could you detail the top 10 landfill sites over the last three
years used by % – by council tax year?

All of the Authority’s landfilled waste over the past three years has been
sent to the Beddington Landfill

4. Have you (or authorities within your waste planning area) sent any
items to landfill at Bletchley Landfill Site operated by FCC Environment
in Milton Keynes? If so, why did you use this site?

No

5. Please confirm if the Council (or authorities within your waste
planning area) is looking to decrease the amount sent to landfill and how
the Council intends to do this

Reducing the amount of residual waste we send to landfill is a priority
for the four South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) boroughs.  To achieve
this, we follow the principles set out by the waste hierarchy:

* Minimisation / prevention - we run education and awareness campaigns to encourage residents to produce less waste in the first place.  Recent examples include our ‘Give food waste a fright’ campaign and participation in WRAP’s Food Waste Awareness Week.  We also design our collection service in a way that encourages waste prevention behaviours - all four boroughs offer a fortnightly collection of residual waste with capacity restricted through the use of wheelie bins.

* Reuse - residents are encouraged to reuse and repair as much as possible, rather than throwing away.  We are involved in education and awareness campaigns - including the recent London Repair Week - and we operate a Community Reuse Shop which takes reusable items left at our six Household Reuse and Recycling Centres and sells them to local residents.  A discount scheme is available to residents on low incomes or suffering financial hardship. 

* Recycling - the SLWP boroughs have been very successful at increasing their recycling rates over recent years, outperforming both national and regional trends:

* Recovery - since March 2019, the vast majority (95%+) of the SLWP borough’s residual household waste has been treated at the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility ([1]www.beddingtonerf.info).  This diversion of waste has enabled the Beddington Landfill Site to stop receiving waste. The old landfill site is now being transformed into a wildlife country park with public access.

6. How will you (or authorities within your waste planning area) balance
landfill against climate change initiatives?

All four boroughs have declared climate emergencies, so the SLWP is
equally concerned about reducing the carbon impact of our waste treatment
and disposal activities.  

A Carbon Working Group has been established, with representatives from our
commercial partner Viridor, the four boroughs and the SLWP.  This group is
overseeing the production of a Carbon Management Plan which will be
published in the coming months. This plan will set a robust carbon
baseline and targets for reductions over the next 25 years (the lifetime
of the waste treatment contract with Viridor). It will also set out some
of the initiatives that will be explored, ranging from staff training and
LED light bulbs to electric vehicles, photovoltaic panels and carbon
capture technologies. An annual report published in the summer of each
year will provide an update on progress.

Please supply information for predecessor organisations if there has been
a recent local government change.

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If you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been handled you
have the right to ask for an internal review.  Please notify us in writing
as soon as possible with the grounds upon which you feel the appeal is
justified to: [2][email address] or by post to Customer Care Team,London
Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA

We aim to respond to you within 20 working days of receiving your request.
If it is going to take longer we will let you know.

Should you still be dissatisfied with the outcome you have the right to
refer to the Information Commissioner: Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF [3]www.ico.org.uk

Kind Regards
Shaun Percival
Contract Support Officer
Environment, Housing and Neighbourhoods directorate
London Borough of Sutton
Disclaimers apply, for full details see : 
(https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200436/cu...)

References

Visible links
1. http://www.beddingtonerf.info/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/