Request
| Dear North London Waste Authority, I have been in contact with the London Borough of Islington on the subject of recycling banks for small electrical items. My concern is that this service might be withdrawn due to repeated vandalism of the banks. I was recently informed that a paper was sent to the "members recycling working group", which I understand to be part of NLWA, at the beginning of December on the subject of the WEEE banks and the kerbside WEEE service. I understand that this document is not publicly available, hence this request. In responding to this request, I would like you to release all documents you hold, since 1 January 2020, relating to the provision of WEEE recycling banks in the NLWA area, including the paper mentioned above. I would also like you to release the minutes of all 2020 meetings of the "members recycling working group" |
Response
Please find attached:
- The minutes of Members Recycling Working Group (MRWG) meetings from 21 January, 13 February, 25 June, 24 September and 3 December 2020.
- Papers about the WEEE collection and bring bank service submitted in June 2020, two separate papers from December 2020 on the subject of the WEEE banks and the kerbside WEEE service and a fourth paper on the WEEE service from January 2021.
The minutes and papers have had the details of NLWA officers except for senior officers redacted and the minutes have had the attribution of comments similarly redacted. This is in line with exception 13 of the Environmental Information Regulations and the requirement to protect personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation 2021 and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Additional information, mainly relating to pricing which is regarded as commercially confidential, is also redacted. This is in line with exception 12 (5)e whereby redactions are allowed for ‘Commercial or industrial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to protect legitimate economic interest’. The public interest test for releasing such information is:
- That by providing the financial information about the costs of the WEEE service residents would better understand the implications of the decisions about retaining or withdrawing the services and the value for money of the same.
- Providing the cost information would show transparency of decision-making.
The public interest arguments for withholding the information are:
- That the additional WEEE collection services are chargeable, unlike the collection of WEEE from reuse and recycling centres which is free-of-charge and paid for by obligated producers of electrical and electronic equipment. Releasing pricing information would provide information to our current contractor’s competitors which would be in contravention of maintaining commercial confidentiality and may reduce NLWA’s capacity to obtain the best commercial rates going forwards.
Accordingly, on the balance of public interest all pricing information has been redacted in the documents enclosed.
I trust this response answers your questions, but if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
