Towards the end of last year, FRM began subscribing to the Resource Efficient Data (RED) platform, to help streamline our data gathering processes. The RED platform takes a variety of data from Waste Data Flow (such as waste arisings, waste destinations and recycling performance) and presents it in a user-friendly format where we can filter data by local authority, material type, collection source, and much more. The team have enjoyed getting to grips with the tool so far – and all the time that has been saved trawling through Waste Data Flow!
With Options Appraisals being one of our key areas at FRM, we often undertake benchmarking to compare the performance of an authority with others which have similar characteristics (e.g. rurality, deprivation, location). This helps up to both determine potential alternative options and help to guide the assumptions we use in collection modelling. With use of the RED platform, we have easily been able to extra performance data for benchmark groups (see below example which shows the performance of the seven North London boroughs). The data will be refreshed when the new national data is published, its late this year, so let’s say this will be out “imminently”!
It is also a useful tool in helping to identify the impacts of several service changes at the kerbside (e.g. introducing a restricted residual waste collection) and Household Waste Recycling Centres (e.g. introducing bag splitting), which we can use to help inform our clients who are considering specific changes. Included below is an example from the Vale of Glamorgan, which shows a significant drop in the tonnages of residual waste captured at HWRCs, following the introduction of black bag splitting from September 2018
We look forward to our continued use of the RED platform to help support our clients, through extracting useful benchmarking information to help inform our waste collection modelling, and exploring potential impacts of service changes.
Frith Resource Management deliver technical collection, recycling, treatment and disposal modelling, consultation and strategies for public and private sector clients. For more details see www.frithrm.com email rosie@frithrm.com or call 01746 552423