Message from the Managing Director

November 05, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

As  COP26 is underway I would like to dedicate this message to highlighting some of our successes so far in reducing our carbon emissions and contributing to the national goals of reaching net zero carbon by 2050.

Firstly, our Neighbourhood Services and Transport service have successfully converted 93% of our lighting stock to LED. This has not only reduced Co2 emissions but also our energy costs, because for the same amount of light and the same amount of time LED bulbs use far less power.

They also last longer than traditional bulbs, meaning they need replacing less frequently and thus fewer bulbs are produced. All these factors reduce our carbon footprint. 

We were the first local authority in Wales to introduce an electric bike rental scheme. This offers many more residents a viable alternative to commuting by car. Using Section 106 sustainable transport contributions, the pilot scheme was launched in Penarth with an initial six docking stations. Further docking stations are now proposed for Cogan Train Station, Stanwell School and the scheme will be extended to include stations in Sully and Dinas Powys. These will be fully funded through the Welsh Government Active Travel fund.

We are also one of the best performing local authorities in Wales for recycling. As a result of the brilliant efforts of our residents, we are able to recycle around 71% of the waste we collect, exceeding the Welsh Government’s statutory target of 70% which we are not required to meet until 2025. 

On top of this, we are planning to open a re-use shop at our Household Waste and Recycling Centre at Atlantic Way in Barry in the near future. This facility will sell items deemed reusable that have been brought to the recycling centre. As well as helping to reduce the amount of waste that is left at this facility, the re-use shop will bring other benefits such as a reduction in waste management costs, generation of income, employment, training, and volunteer opportunities, and addressing deprivation and poverty through access to low-cost goods.

The opening of a reuse shop in the Vale of Glamorgan aligns strongly with circular economy aspirations and decarbonisation by supporting community initiatives such as repair cafes. It will supply members of the community with practical resources, skills, and a base to help reuse and recycle items that would otherwise have gone to waste.

I mentioned earlier this week the visit to Llancarfan Primary school, the pioneering net zero primary school build in Wales. The Welsh Government’s policy decision, which has our model at the heart of it, has received lots of media coverage this week. I’m pleased that we have received the recognition we deserve for our role in this step forward and it was great to see it being flagged as best practice by Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe earlier in the week.

In addition to our 21st Century Schools project, the Learning and Skills directorate has established a working group to explore how they could work with our schools to support decarbonisation.

Here are a few examples of steps that have been planned or taken so far:

• Electric vehicle charging points will be installed in 7 schools.
• 7 schools have been identified for LED replacement lighting.
• 1,260 tree saplings from the Woodland Trust to be planted in schools.
• 120 fruit trees from Natural Resources Wales have been planted in schools.
• 1,125m2 wildflowers from Fonmon Castle and Wild Wales Seeds have been sown in schools.
• 99% waste from 21st Century School construction sites has been diverted from landfill. 

I would like to thank all the officers and teams involved in the projects I have mentioned in this week’s message. What’s really positive is that we are consistently leading the way on several initiatives, and this is something we should all be proud of. This is not an exhaustive list by any means and I am aware that there are a number of other projects underway or in the pipeline that will contribute to our shared goal of reducing our carbon emissions. I’m sure we can feature those in upcoming messages as well.

Your commitment and efforts are much appreciated and will make a difference to the Vale as a whole. What is however clear to me, is that we have far more to do, and we need to step up our efforts if we are going to make a significant, and more importantly, a sustainable difference in reducing our environmental impact. 

We have made a good start and we now need to build on what we have already achieved, and this will need an on-going commitment.  I have every confidence, that as always, we will rise to the challenge. The news this week from COP26 has been positive overall, with countries all over the world committing to taking additional steps to protect the environment and try to stop global warming going beyond 1.5 degrees.

For example, over 100 countries have promised to reverse deforestation by 2030, including countries in South America where there are areas of the amazon rainforest that more than 30% of tree cover has been lost since 2001. These are promising results from the first week of negotiations. You can keep up to date with the latest developments at the conference on their website.

COP26 continues until 12 November. Next week, Cardiff will host a Welsh event and I’m proud that our organisation will be presenting on our work there, with Emma Reed sharing our experience and expertise in rolling out the electric bike scheme. Diolch Emma.

I hope you all have a good weekend, and I hope this message and the news coverage about climate change has inspired you to take additional steps to reduce your carbon footprint where you can.

In my next message, I’ll share with you the latest developments from COP26, reflect on the Wales event from next week as well as sharing some tips on what we can all do in our efforts to achieve the collective ambition we’ve set for ourselves and our communities in Project Zero. I will also set out some of the ambitions we have in this area of our work for the future. If you’ve any ideas to share, as always, I’d be delighted to receive them.

Diolch yn fawr,

Rob.