Response to the many queries I have had about trying to recycling plastics

Oldham’s refuse and recycling disposal is managed by Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA). At present GMWDA are only able to recycle certain types of plastics – namely plastic bottles.

Plastics are made from different grades/types of plastics which melt at different temperatures, and therefore, a plastic bottle and a yoghurt pot for example, cannot be recycled together. Technically it is possible to recycle these separately, however, the range of materials that can be recycled is driven by the manufacturers that make the products. Currently these manufactures want high grade bottle type plastic to make their products (as they are easier to reprocess) and there is much less demand for lower grade materials such as plastic Pots, Tubs and Trays (PTT).

Plastic bottles tend to be made from either HDPE or PET polymers which are in high demand for recycling and it is this well-developed market which GMWDA feeds collected plastic bottles into for recycling. Whist bottle PET has a well-established market for recycling unfortunately this is not the case for PET trays. There are a number of reasons for this but principally the plastics reprocessors prefer the bottle PET as this is high quality and will not have been blended with lower quality polymers which is what happens with some trays. The current suppressed oil price is also reducing demand for recycled plastics as plastics produced from raw hydrocarbons are actually cheaper to produce at the moment.

There are local authorities collecting PTT on the back of public demand, however based on current data (from the Waste Recycling Action Programme) around 62% of this plastic collected in the UK (household and commercial) actually ends up being disposed of rather than recycled. This is due the lack of established markets for recycling of PTT. The most likely outcome for these materials is that it will be separated from the plastic bottles and then treated as a residue for energy generation. This is a very disappointing statistic and needs action at a national level. There is a good market for the recycling of poly–propylene (PP) yoghurt pots but not all pots and trays are made of PP, instead cheaper alternate polymers are used that reprocessors do not want. The solution would be for packaging manufacturers to consistently only use PP, however this change requires either legislation or a binding commitment to implement that change, and we therefore need central Government action.

GMWDA is committed to its aim of zero waste and we continue to lobby for consistency in the use of plastic polymers for PTT. We are also continuously monitoring the plastics market and should viable markets develop for PTT in the future then GMWDA would look to increase the range of plastic materials that can be collected from households for recycling.

Please be assured that the plastic you place in your general waste bin in Oldham does not go to waste. Across Greater Manchester we send your residual waste to one of our five Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities which separates and treats residual waste to generate end products and electricity. Below are links to our Recycle for Greater Manchester website which contains further information on recycling and producing green energy.

FAQs: http://www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com/recycle/faqs

Green Energy: http://www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com/recover/how-we-recover-energy

Linney Lane and Scarr Lane resurfacing

I wanted to inform you of the latest information I have received from the Council regarding the road surface of Linney Lane and Scarr Lane.

I have earlier reported Scarr Lane will be resurfaced.

A number of you have been in contact with me regarding the pot holes and the general condition of the road surface on Linney Lane over the last couple of years or so. As some of you will already be aware, my colleagues and I, have been trying to get some action to remedy the poor quality of the road surface. I have sent numerous communications to the Highways Department along with a significant number of meetings to try and progress this matter.

Whilst it has been a long battle I finally have some good news to share! I have received this following information from the Highways Department.

We are proposing to resurface the full length of Linney Lane and Scarr Lane. There are no other streets in Shaw and Crompton included on the current programme. At present Linney Lane and Scarr Lane are still in the planning stages and Unity are still some way off being in a position to deliver the works. As such I am not in a position to be able to expand any further on the proposed works at this stage.

Unity generally inform Ward Councillors about resurfacing works once they are in a position to deliver the scheme and have obtained all necessary permissions to carry out the works.

Every effort will be made to respond to specific enquiries as in this instance and Unity will be in touch with the full details of the scheme once it is available.

Regards, Daniel Meadowcroft – Highways Asset Client Manager

As I am sure you will agree this is long overdue, the battle now is when the above will happen. Rest assured, I and my colleagues Rod Blyth and Chris Gloster will continue to chase the Highways Department for a start date and as soon as I have this information I will share it.

Royal Mail Box Milnrow Road, Dunwood Park Courts

Pleased this mail box is now back in place.

Not aware of any other missing ones in Shaw and Crompton – if you know different please let me know.

My latest letter from Royal mail is below which is a joke – read it if you want a laugh – it makes no sense and just shows they do not care or have not got a clue about what is happening on the ground.

Link to letter: Royal Mail Letter

Oldham Council 7 September 2016 – leaders questions from Councillor Howard Sykes

Council 7 September – Leaders Question 1

LOCAL PATIENTS FAILED BY ‘INADEQUATE’ TRUST DAMNED IN REPORT

Mr Mayor, my first question to the Leader tonight relates to the very disturbing findings of the report published last month by the Quality Care Commission (QCC) about our local Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust.

The Commission found the Trust to be providing ‘inadequate’ services overall, with several departments requiring ‘improvement’.

At the Royal Oldham Hospital, inspectors were concerned about ‘suitable and appropriate medical staffing’, especially in critical care, maternity, gynaecology and children and young people’s services.

In young people’s services it was found that there were no consultants in place after 5pm. As though our children only get sick nine to five!

And in the high dependency unit, many standards for critical care were ‘not being met’ and that it was only during the inspection that ‘adequate’ staffing levels were provided, when for three years management knew of the shortfall.

Whilst none of us want to have to receive high dependency care, if we do, we surely have the right to expect to be treated to the highest standard in a unit with sufficient staff?

All of these deficiencies should be of great concern to us as the patients being most let down are amongst the most vulnerable patients in our hospital.

And can we be clear ‘let down’ means pain and death that could be avoided!

So where does the fault lie?

Not apparently with the staff described as ‘caring’ who continue to do their best with inadequate resources and numbers; instead it lies with the Trust Board and senior management whose conduct is described as ‘inadequate’.

I have been told that aside from health professionals, there are no Oldham residents directly involved in the Improvement Board and Plan put in place to attempt to address these serious concerns; can the Leader confirm if this is true?

If this is true why is there no Oldham citizen directly involved in making sure our Hospital and Pennine Trust improves?

This cannot, and should not, just be left to the so called health professionals; a number of which have close working and contractual arrangements with Pennine Acute Trust!

Does she agree with me this is a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs and a scandal that there is no one from our Borough representing our citizens?

Can the Leader also tell me what we are doing as an authority to put pressure on the Trust Board to address these shocking deficiencies in performance before the Trust goes into terminal decline?

Anything I am my colleagues can do to support her and her colleagues in this matter we will.

Council 7 September – Leaders Question 2

Pokémon Go

Mr Mayor, my second question tonight concerns one of the biggest social crazes to hit the UK in many a year and it is a craze that has been taken up across the whole nation by Britons of all ages but particularly the young and the young at heart – namely the phenomena called Pokémon Go.

According to Wikipedia Pokémon Go is “a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices.”

What that means in plain English is that if you have the correct software on your portable electronic device that you can play ‘hunt the monster’ whilst visiting the park or crossing the street.

For those unfamiliar with the game, in essence you are able to track and catch virtual Pokémon creatures in real-world settings.

So what has this got to do with Oldham Council I hear you ask?

Well some novel ideas have been recently published about engaging Pokémon Go players with public services and in particular public health activities.

Our libraries are, whether they know it or not, virtual gyms, the only location where Pokémon players can go to ‘strengthen’ their monsters and meet with others playing the game.

Some libraries are taking advantage of this to let players know that they are welcome in to play and welcome to stay afterwards.

Some are even issuing badges to players who prove they have won a battle at the gym.

Other suggestions include:

Designating historical landmarks and public facilities as Pokestops, where special items are dropped and in-app lures can be set off, with Lure Parties to cash in on the fun;

Hosting meet-ups, and monster rather than art trails; Community get-togethers to search for Pokémon at the weekend and fund-raising events in partnership with charities.

Weight-loss and health campaigners can utilise one of the game’s key benefit – you have to walk to find the monsters and you are largely outdoors when you do so.

There is already some clear evidence of previous couch potatoes, or those holed up in their bedrooms playing Call of Duty on Xbox or Play Station are now walking and/or running around outside as they hunt on Pokémon Go.

Given the potential, I would like to ask the Leader what this Council is doing to harness this idea and whether we can work with our Youth Council to develop innovative ways in which we can use the power of this technology to connect our youngest residents with our public services?

And even more importantly use it to get people more active and therefore healthy and help tackle the ticking time bomb we have locally with obesity and in particular with obesity in young people.

Saturday 3 Sept 12 noon – 3.00pm High Crompton Kite Festival

Liberal Democrats call for End to Last Post

The Leader of the Opposition and Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, is proposing a motion to the next meeting of full Council (7 September) demanding the replacement of five post boxes that have disappeared from various locations in Shaw and Crompton over the last nine months.

Councillor Sykes roundly condemned the unresponsiveness and inactivity of the senior management of Royal Mail over this period. He said:

“Over this period I have written numerous letters asking then demanding action to Royal Mail senior managers, including the Chief Executive. At least I have been able to find a local letter box in which to post these, but many of my constituents, a lot of whom are elderly, infirm or disabled, cannot and so they encounter great difficulty in sending mail. Those most inconvenienced are the residents of Dunwood Park Courts who found themselves without a post box since last November.”

“It is simply unacceptable that Royal Mail, which by law is meant to maintain a universal postal service and be a customer-facing business, has failed to replace these letter boxes over the time. How much longer are customers expected to wait? At this rate, and with the Royal Mail’s attitude that replacement will happen sometime in the future at an undisclosed date, my constituents might not even be unable to post Christmas cards for a second year running.”

Councillor Sykes’ motion calls on the Council to write corporately to the Chief Executive and Chairman of Royal Mail demanding immediate action. Councillor Sykes also wants to see a new statutory right for local authorities and local people to be consulted by Royal Mail before a post box is lost or is not immediately replaced.

Liberal Democrat Crompton Councillor Diane Williamson, who is backing the motion, added:

“This is no requirement in law for the Royal Mail to carry out a consultation before taking action and removing a post box, or after a short period of time if they fail to replace one that is stolen or damaged. Shaw and Crompton Councillors do not believe that this is acceptable.”

We are therefore asking the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports asking for one to be created in law as clearly the voluntary arrangements have totally failed my own, and Councillor Sykes’s constituents who have been massively inconvenienced over many months.”

The motion reads: Missing Post Boxes

Council believes that it is a disgrace and a scandal that over the last nine months five Royal Mail post boxes have disappeared in Shaw and Crompton.

Council recognises that this has caused great inconvenience to residents; most particularly to those living on Dunwood Park Courts, who have been without a local post box since November 2015, and to the many elderly, infirm or disabled residents living adjacent to these five locations, who struggle, or simply find it impossible, to walk to the next available post box.

Furthermore, Council is deeply disappointed by the:

lack of urgency in the response from the Chief Executive of Royal Mail to representations made on this matter by local Councillors

vague promises made to reinstate these post boxes at some unspecified future date

apparent lack of a statutory requirement for Royal Mail to consult with any local authority, and local residents, before a post box is removed from a public location

Council resolves to request that the Chief Executive writes to:

The Chief Executive and Chairman of Royal Mail Plc conveying this Council’s robust view on this matter and demanding the early reinstatement of these post boxes as a matter of urgency

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport asking the Government to establish a statutory requirement for Royal Mail to consult any District or Unitary Council, and local residents, prior to the removal (or non-replacement for a period of more than one calendar month) of any public post box from their area

Lack of post box – entrance to Dunwood Park Courts, Milnrow Road, Shaw

Councillor Howard Sykes says Royal Mail fail to follow their own rules re the missing post box (nearly 10 months now) at the entrance to Dunwood Park Courts, Milnrow Road, Shaw, Oldham.

Copy of letter I have sent today – my 10^th about this matter!

See my first and his response in January:

http://howardsykes.mycouncillor.org.uk/2016/02/15/councillor-demands-missing-royal-mail-post-box-is-replaced/

23 August 2016

Mr Steve Buckley, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Royal Mail Plc, 100 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0HQ

Dear Mr Buckley,

Re: Disappearance of Royal Mail Post Box, Dunwood Park Courts, Shaw, Oldham.

Thank you for your recent letter of 7 August to which I replied on 15 August. Whilst I am grateful for your response, we are still no further forward and this is now my ninth communication with you about this matter.

This particular Post Box has been missing since November 2015 and it is a disgrace and a scandal that the residents of Dunwood Park Courts and surrounding area have been without a Post Box for nine whole months. The majority of these residents are elderly, infirm or disabled and are having to travel to simply post a letter.

I must express my disappointment in the lack of urgency in your response; while you have given vague responses, you have as yet failed to supply a date to reinstate this Post Box.

Other Post Boxes have been replaced, why not this one?

Ofcom’s most recently published statement on regulatory protections for the provision of postboxes states that Royal Mail must ensure that:

there is a post box within 0.5 miles by straight line distance of at least 98% of delivery points (i.e. people’s houses) nationally; and
for the remaining 2% of delivery points, Royal Mail must provide sufficient access points or other means of access to the universal service (e.g. collection on delivery from very remote or isolated locations such as farmhouses) to meet the reasonable needs of users.

How does the failure to replace or relocate this post box comply with the above?

I have also attached a copy of Royal Mails own protocols for mail box removal and relocation.

I have highlighted a number of sections that appear to have not been followed with this postbox. They are reproduced in full below.

When a box needs to be taken out of service, either temporarily sealed or permanently removed, a notice will be displayed to tell customers why and give details of the nearest 3 alternative posting facilities.

Not aware the above has been complied with.

Where it is possible to do so, we will provide a four week notification to consumers when we plan to remove or relocate a box. However, sometimes a four week period is not possible because a significant proportion of removals and relocations are due to events outside of our control – such as when a box is damaged or stolen.

Appreciate four weeks is not always possible but this is now nine months!

If we have to remove a posting box

Before we take a decision to remove a postbox, a number of things are taken into consideration:

Whether the original issue can be overcome
Feasibility of repairing a box
Finding a suitable alternative site
The distance to and location of the next nearest 3 alternative boxes
That the needs of customer in the area will still be met if the box isn’t replaced
The number of delivery points which may now be further than half a mile from a box

Nine months on not aware any of the above has been done?

Therefore, and I take no pleasure in being so blunt and direct but the other eight approaches about this matter have not helped resolve matters for my constituents.

A detailed and considered response to the highlighted sections from your own protocols would be appreciated.

I would also expect a specific and detailed response and a date of if and when this Post Box will be replaced or relocated.

I would urge you to replace this particular one or relocate VERY nearby as the elderly residents are in need of a local Post Box.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely – Howard Sykes

Royal Mail protocol for postbox removal and relocation (off their web site)

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/132/related/1

We are committed to retaining our ‘six days a week’ collection from all our 115,000 postboxes. In the
UK, we have one of the highest numbers and densities of postboxes in Europe and this hasn’t changed over the past decade.

From time to time, it may become necessary to remove or relocate a postbox. We don’t remove boxes due to under-utilisation. There are, however, various reasons why we might have to take a box out of service:

A risk to the safety of our postmen and postwomen
The security of the mail in a particular postbox may be compromised
Building works mean it’s not possible to access a postbox
Re-routing of traffic, making it dangerous for us to collect from a postbox
A request to remove a postbox from private land by the landowner
Damage to a box due to a road traffic accident

If we have to remove a posting box

Before we take a decision to remove a postbox, a number of things are taken into consideration:

Whether the original issue can be overcome
Feasibility of repairing a box
Finding a suitable alternative site
The distance to and location of the next nearest 3 alternative boxes
That the needs of customer in the area will still be met if the box isn’t replaced
The number of delivery points which may now be further than half a mile from a box

If a postbox has to be relocated

Where we have to relocate a postbox we will always:

Inform customers of the reason why, via a notice on or near the box
Consult appropriate parties, such as local councils, land owners and engineering contractors;
Complete relocation/repair work within reasonable timescales, usually six months.

What to do if you have a problem

If you would like to discuss the removal or relocation of a box in your area or you are experiencing a problem, please contact us using the help centre link to the right of this page.
To help us answer your query, please remember to note the location of the box and its individual identification number.

My latest letter to Royal Mail re missing post boxes

15 August 2016

Mr Steve Buckley, Chairman & Chief Executive Office, Royal Mail Plc, 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ

Dear Mr Buckley,

Re: Disappearance of Royal Mail Post Box on Milnrow Road, Long Rushes (High Crompton), Shaw, Oldham.

Thank you for your recent letter of 7 August. Whilst I am grateful for your response, I still have no further information to share with my constituents.

These Post Boxes have now been missing for almost seven months. I have received numerous complaints from concerned constituents; the majority of which are elderly, who have to travel to simply post a letter.

I would welcome a dialog and some information about this matter as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely – Howard Sykes

Shaw and Crompton Councillors Ward Surgeries (no appointment necessary)

Held on the following Thursdays at Shaw Lifelong Learning Centre, High Street, Shaw OL2 8TB.

September – 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29: 7:30pm to 8:30pm.

Scarr Lane, Shaw resurfacing – good news!

I want to inform people of the latest information I have received from the Council regarding the road surface of Scarr Lane.

A number of you have been in contact with me regarding the pot holes and the general condition of the road surface on Scarr Lane over the last couple of years or so. As some of you will already be aware, my colleagues (Councillors Blyth and Gloster) and I, have been trying to get some action to remedy the poor quality of the road surface. I have sent numerous communications to the Highways Department along with a significant number of meetings to try and progress this matter.

Whilst it has been a long battle I finally have some good news to share! I have received this following information from the Highways Department.

Thank you for your email, we can confirm the whole of Scarr Lane is programmed to be resurfaced, we can also confirm we will be using traditional Bitmac.

As I am sure you will agree this is a long overdue, the battle now is when as the above will happen as this commitment is for this financial year i.e. before the end of March 2017!

Whilst I have been chasing for a scheduled start date, unfortunately they do not appear to have set a date as yet.

With regards a start date for the carriageway surfacing works at Scarr Lane, I am afraid that I cannot provide this at present, the works will be completed on this year’s programme and as soon as I have a definite start date I will update you. Kind regards – Nigel Molden, Senior Engineer, Highways & Engineering

I will continue to pursue this matter on a regular basis until I have a confirmed start date, however, as Mr Molden has confirmed above, the works will be completed on this year’s programme. To clarify, ‘this year’s’ programme actually means by the end of March 2017 but rest assured I will be pressing for work to start in 2016.

The fight for similar action on other local roads like Linney Lane continues.

As soon as I have any further information regarding the start date I shall let people know.

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