ImageFast News

February 2006: Waste Management Project

Wellingborough Borough Council practiced what they preach when they involved information management specialists ImageFast  in collating information relating to a major waste management survey.

While the survey aimed to identify ways to encourage recycling and waste minimisation in relation to household rubbish, ImageFast  ensured there was no waste of resources within the council department during theinformation collation and analysis stage of the project.

The borough council introduced a scheme to divert organic material from landfill sites by collecting garden waste on alternate weeks to household waste. 6,500 households involved in the pilot scheme were then invited to give their views through the Green Waste Survey.

The response to the survey was overwhelming – a massive 56 per cent of households surveyed returned their forms.

The council’s Service Development Co-ordinator, Mark Reneerkens, says the overwhelming number of respondents took his department by surprise. He said: “Although we were delighted with the result, we were faced with the challenge of inputting the information from the survey and analysing the results, all in time to report back to committees which had set very tight deadlines.”

Enter ImageFast . During a marketing drive led by the company, ImageFast ’s Business Development Manager Jon Sharp approached Mark to promote the company’s document management expertise. The phone call was well-timed and offered a solution to Mark’s challenge.

ImageFast  then met with Mark to discuss the department’s requirements in more detail and proposed that the council contracted out the data capture work to ImageFast .

Jon says: “We scanned each Green Waste Survey form into our system. Then, by using a programme that recognised all of the handwritten information on the forms, including ticks, we collated the information in an easily searchable database. The package was then handed back to Mark and his team who analysed the data and converted it into reports for the various committees.”

The deadline for all forms to be returned was January 31 this year and ImageFast  had recorded all of the information by February 7.

Mark says: “We would certainly have struggled to input all the data ourselves and meet the deadlines set to report back to the committees. ImageFast ’s involvement certainly saved us a lot of resources because without them we would have had to use a lot of staff for a longer period of time. The package they developed also enabled us to analyse the data more effectively.

“As a result of the survey, the council has decided that the alternating weekly scheme will continue. There is one area where the responses from the public were more negative than in other areas and we may look to survey this area again in the near future. Should we embark upon another survey we would certainly consider ImageFast . Their involvement was essential in handling the large numbers of results we had to process.”

Jon adds: “There are a huge number of projects being carried out by local councils every day where staff resources are being stretched to their limit. By involving ImageFast  councils can save on staff time, ensure that deadlines are met and have access to vital information in an easily accessible format. Ultimately they will save on resources and, as we all know, time is money – a vital factor for consideration in organisations that are accountable such as local councils."