This report is a transcription of notes taken during the meeting on flipcharts and in small groups.  

Agenda

• Welcome and Introductions
• Background and Context
• Short presentations
• Working session
• End by 1pm

Objectives

• Hear about what is needed to be achieved and some of the existing initiatives
• Develop recommendations for accelerating change

A series of short presentations was followed by questions and some discussion between each presentation. The presentations are appended to the end of this report. The following is a transcription of the notes made during the question and discussion following presentations from Tony Norton, Claire Shearer, Davina Luther and Helen Vines.

• Where is the commercial waste? Yes, these are just domestic figures, it is difficult to find figures for commercial waste.
• There is a clear relationship between carbon neutral and air pollution
• CO2 emissions of waste does it include CO2 from transporting waste. No nor disposal since in Torbay waste arisings are sent to Energy from Waste facility in Plymouth.
• Are there websites of organisations that the Council could direct people to?
• Communication and education has to be part of this.

                                Turn down thermostat

                                Lithium battery disposal

• Try and get more action from supermarkets
• Is composting part of the school curriculum?
• What do you mean by greenspace? Anywhere in urban areas, parks, verges, etc.  Talk to Ground Works about this, how do green spaces relate to our transport networks and land use in urban areas.
• Where you can go to help to set up
• Coming up with a registration scheme to put people who have green space in touch with people who can grow in it.
• Potential conflict with developers taking green space. Crabbing lines and local fisherman. Taking care not to take business  
• Who funds you? Devon CC waste
• Is CAG national? Started in Oxfordshire, also in other places, Devon, Somerset, Plymouth.
• Take into account carbon usage of travelling to locations
• Relationship with locations

Feedback from working session.   Below are the notes made by the facilitator during plenary discussion, including what is important and needs accelerating, some examples of successful projects and recommendations.   

• Focus on Education, schools and different stakeholders need to be tailored.
• Reduce fly tipping
• Involve the public through engagement etc; cookery classes, library of things, getting children to have home economics lessons at schools, teach engineering at school, sewing classes etc
• Get schools involved in a repair and mend scheme (WW11)
• Reaching people who don’t recycle using compulsory regulations – example Mid-Devon, first people are sent a letter, then again and finally can end in court action (although don’t think it has ever got this far)
• Easily accessing facilities, for example Weee (Waste electrical and electronic equipment)
• There is a lot of work going on but feels a little uncoordinated, need a forum and network. Talk to the Food partnership about a forum.
• Don’t forget to celebrate good ideas and projects
• Local authorities in the SE are asking residents to own their impact though personal action.
• Incredible edibles – community growing projects, important that they don’t give up when they are vandalised.
• Information being available in different languages.
• Bristol waste Partnership use pop-up shops, Electric Avenue.
• Fishing examples – some net recycling – can we find out and do more?
• Fishing line collection to local
• Financially sustainable projects
• Using trials to cloth nappy library, provide incentives, free kits with cloth nappies. Join with the NHS and expand to incontinence and sanitary products.   These make up 9% of what is in the bin.
• Hubub – National Charity that helps to provide grants and support, they fully funded working with local companies.
• Food fridges
• lead by example, making it fun to use litter bins

Recommendations

• Not a lot know about commercial waste – pilot in Torbay?
• Ban cyclists from roads with adjacent cycle path
• Recording waste arisings
• CAG Torbay
• Education for fishing industry, Education for other businesses.
• Three weekly residual waste collection or smaller containers
• Setting up community-based composting, coordinating through CAG
• Farmers market Torbay
• Retail shops which promote lower consumption. Traceless is one in Torbay.  Can be pricy
• Refill shop in Exeter - is competitive on basics
• New redeveloped recycling centres with space
• Longer term financial support needed.
• Protection of marine zones
• Carbon tax for the Bay to subsidise green projects
• Black Down Hills – make more income than their costs so give small grants to the community.
• Place to identify where sponsorship and grants can be found.
• Expanding schools’ education on all things carbon.
• Where is / should the leadership for this be? Climate change partnership.
• Residual food waste within bins. Educate residents and schools / campaign
• Residual garden waste
• Bylaws to support / improve recycling (mandatory reporting of waste – businesses)
• Enforcement? Fly tipping in neighbourhoods
• Support function for people who can’t get to tips or recycling centres
• Shopping habits
• Facilities and equipment.

Come up with examples of good projects people know of (in and out of Torbay).  Who is delivering these?

• Skill shares and identification of skills
• Bikes – Jerry @ ?? via Weston
• Beer bottles as per the Nordic countries
• Recycling via re-streaming ? share, reuse, strip and identify parts
• Clothes swap – e.g. cool climate
• Nappy incentives schemes – lots of councils do this, saving from disposal pays for this. Nappy library / trial kits
• Potential for partnership with NHS / Health visitors
• Training for NHS staff re real nappies
• Reuse shop / resource centres et Bristol waste, electric Avenue pop up shop e.g. DCC – HWRC’s
• Local food markets (farmers) eg Three towns
• Grocery trails (but with supporting oversight from a CAG
• Incredible edible – use of greenspace to grow in estates / neighbours
• Mobile shops
• Projects to combat single use plastic, focus local businesses, unwrapped / naked veg.
• Cool Food project
• Bring and share ‘community potluck – TQ9 network of wellbeing
• Some recycling of nets in Torbay – Simon Pinder, Rob Pearson – storage issues
• Three weekly residual waste collections to drive behaviour change – increase recycling and waste minimisation – local authority
• Electric waste fleet – local authority
• New recycling centre – bigger and more accessible – like farm in Sidmouth.
• Cookery classes – teaching families plus food minimisation – community
• Repair cafes – community
• Food waste minimisation, education and reducing packaged food being thrown away
• Library of things
• Clothes swaps

Recommendations for the Carbon neutral action plan

• Ban cyclists from any road with an adjacent cycle path.
• Library of things and toy library
• List to the oddballs – somewhere in their ideas are the gems that will drive change.
• Validate the carbon negatives SVO vehicles should be treated as green rather than vilified.
• Film to fuel for CHP changing? Collection in electrified vehicles
• Community compost groups – e.g. Ashington, South Brent, Stoke Flemming
• Joining up all the actions of different groups already working in Torbay – e.g. CAG Devon
• Reduce residual waste collection capacity or frequency
• Expand schools’ education programme
• Furniture reuse and repair (pop-up shop)
• Use waste to create growing containers
• Relax planning law on size of parking bays to allow small electric cars to charge.
• Incentivise reuse – e.g. financial, give sample nappies
• Torbay CAG – who funds
• Correct recording of waste – ours goes to Plymouth
• Electric waste vehicles or alternative hydrogen
• “fresher mat” – pitch to council by energy dots
• Relationship between supermarkets for food banks re out of date / expiring food – how to maximise? Central storage? Food banks to advise
• Reduction in food miles – link markets
• ‘Cool Food’ Project – carbon footprint reduction
• Landing site for ideas/best practice – not council
• Use volunteer of people gardens to grow/share.
• Education programmes for fishing industry, training
• MCA stronger regulation and regular check ups
• Hard hitting campaigns
• Local funding for projects and long-term funding
• Grant support for communities / organisations
• Businesses want to support expert to come and help, system for accreditation link to sustainable business proposal
• Carbon Tax on motor vehicles (leisure side)
• Get EfW companies funding and send to this group so all aware.
• Community fridge – Parkfield green space – funding issues nothing locally
• Edible earth Torbay.
• Setting up CAG Torbay
• Increase recycling
• Commercial waste pilot – to measure and assess waste and composition in Torbay

Name	Organisation
Amy O'Dwyer
Claire Shears	Swisco
Hannah	Yes Brixham
Hannah Rendle	Eat that frog
Hazel Foster	Councillor
Ian Smith
Jennifer Stoneman
Jennifer Walter
Jerry Nightingale	Weston College
John	Torquay allotments
Kate Allen	Cantina Goodrington
Mark Richards	Torbay Public Health
Nick Walter
Nora Nelson	Torbay Cloth Nappy Library
Ruth Edwards	Swisco
Simon Pinder	Torbay Harbours, councillor
Stephen Moors