Council charges and DIY refuse

[RogerS]

Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick but I thought that as from Jan 1 Council's could no longer charge for redisdents bringing in DIY waste. This was in an effort to reduce fly-tipping. Northumberland are still charging.

Did I misunderstand the new legislation?

What's happening with your Council ?

Personally I don't have an issue with paying to get rid of DIY waste, bricks, rubble etc.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...v6-7irWJrZya3wjeQM8ikA9H3-BQf8Eu46B4BS4fWP7vA
doesn't appear to give a date.

 

[graham88]

From .gov site:

"Households no longer have to pay to get rid of small-scale DIY waste at council recycling centres, boosting recycling and making it easier for people to dispose of their waste in a responsible manner.

The Government has abolished the fees which around one-third of local authorities previously charged to dispose of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres (HWRCs).

From today, all councils in England will now treat DIY waste the same as other household waste when it meets certain conditions, such as not exceeding 2x 50L rubble bags."

So your local council is straight within the guidelines. I suppose if the waste is not bagged up then there's no easy way to quantify how much people are throwing hence the vehicle charges. I don't think it'll have a huge impact on fly tipping, from my experience ANY fees will give the less scrupulous an excuse to fly tip. Personally I have always just done a weekly run to get rid of my DIY waste in stages as my local council has had a similar set of rules for a while now.

Link to reference site if anyone is interested: Charges for disposing of DIY waste at recycling centres scrapped

 

[RogerS]

Digging a bit deeper, NCC say that from Feb 1, no DIY waste can be brought without a permit. Then on another page, it says maximum number of permits a year is 12. Daft.

 

[Ollie78]

Where I live you are alowed to go to the tip 4 times a year or something for free.

 

[RogerS]

Where I live you are alowed to go to the tip 4 times a year or something for free.

Is that for DIY waste (bricks, rubble. WCs etc) or are you limited to that also for household waste (bin bags etc) ?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Here they open every bin bag and go through the contents - any little bit of metal plastic etc. you have to take to the relevant bin.

 

[Richard_C]

Hastily drafted legislation introduced by regulation without proper scrutiny often has unintended consequences.
Fine, government says to councils that they can't charge for DIY waste, and do a look-at-me how we are helping the ordinary citizen puff piece announcement.

But as Osborne's austerity and what followed means councils can't afford to do anything beyond their statutory duties if you legislate to remove charges they can simply say "OK then, we don't have to take it so we won't take it" or, as the OP describes, decide to bring in new rules that don't apply a ££ charge but make it difficult.

From the council's perspective they can see that recycling and avoiding fly tipping is a good thing, but as they can't even afford to do things like adult social care and child protection, which are statutory, then good-but-not essential gets left behind.

I think it's better to maintain the service and charge than lose the service altogether. I happily pay for a second garden waste bin for example.
But we are where we are, zombie government clutching at straws to get a few more votes. Superficially helpful legislation makes things worse.

 

[graham88]

Out of interest, does anybody live in the supposed two thirds of councils who didn't charge for DIY waste, and if so have charges now been introduced?

 

[HOJ]

We have a WRC local to me which is quite small, its unusual in that it is out in the sticks and they aren't geared up for large dumps!, they have always been very reasonable with their outlook but you do get people that try to take the P, and they understandably get stricter on those occasions.

I have a waste carriers licence and can go to the larger WRC just outside Norwich, where the arrangements are there to handle big dumps, was in there the other day in my big van with a load of shavings, wood and some glass, charged me £20.00, I was along side quite a few commercial dumpers, all happy to pay to throw, far cheaper than a skip.
From my point of view we are well served here to be able to dispose of waste responsibly and I am happy to pay to do so as well.

 

[Myfordman]

Hampshire say
From 1 January 2024, each Hampshire household may deposit up to eight 50-litre rubble bags, or 4 bulky items, free of charge every 4 weeks. Any waste which exceeds this allowance will be chargeable. Please see below for further details on the allowance and restrictions.

My interpretation is that each area is coming up with their own rules designed to decide if the waste amount is commensurate with DIY and to block the trade from using it with their own small vehicles.

 

[eribaMotters]

Sounds like nothing unusual to me. Throughout the country councils have always ran different systems on recycle and refuse, be it collection or drop off at a site.

Colin

 

[Doug B]

Out of interest, does anybody live in the supposed two thirds of councils who didn't charge for DIY waste, and if so have charges now been introduced?

Our council recycling centre is free with no limits I know of re volume all you have to do is register the vehicle you’ll be arriving in.
At the centre there’s about a dozen or more very large skips which are clearly labelled with what you can put in them, they do scrutinise what you are unloading & which skip you are putting it in but if they didn’t I guess folks wouldn’t play ball.
As an aside I can’t remember the last time I saw any fly tipping in the area so perhaps it does work.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've often seen fly tipping 100yds from the dump.

 

[Ollie78]

Is that for DIY waste (bricks, rubble. WCs etc) or are you limited to that also for household waste (bin bags etc) ?

I am not sure the full list but I took a matress, some chairs, old garden stuff, dismantled wardrobes, old paint tins etc. the other day. There is sections for rubble and electrics etc. You have to wrap and pay for asbestos and pay for car tyres.
You have to pre book online and tick boxes of what sort of stuff you are taking, they issue you a QR code to get through the gate.

For commercial you have to pay a fee or licence or something.

Ollie

 

[Max Power]

Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick but I thought that as from Jan 1 Council's could no longer charge for redisdents bringing in DIY waste. This was in an effort to reduce fly-tipping. Northumberland are still charging.


View attachment 173383

Did I misunderstand the new legislation?

What's happening with your Council ?

Personally I don't have an issue with paying to get rid of DIY waste, bricks, rubble etc.

Its free if using a car in Durham and you are also allowed 12 permits a year to use with a larger vehicle, at no cost

 

[Logger]

South Gloucestershire allow a commercial vehicle 12 free visits a year and pay no attention to black bags. I use my pick up mostly to take garden waste rather than use our car. But i often see full transit vans clearly getting rid of commercial waste and this seems fine to those who work there.

Nick

 

[fezman]

Here you need a (free) permit or ID to prove you live in the borough. Then the only limitation is 5x25kg building rubble every 4 weeks. Pretty much everything else is accepted

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Where we currently live in S Gloucestershire the car needs to be registered (but never seems to be checked), and there is no charge for household waste but a limit of 4 tyres pa.

Starting with a basic assumption that charging will not reduce waste:

• charges will increase fly tipping
• fly tipping is unsightly, and a potential health hazard
• fly tipping costs more to clear than allowing organised disposal at a waste site
• limiting roadside collections means more private visits to a waste site.
• one lorry collecting waste from (say) several hundred houses is replaced by (potentially) several hundred private vehicles creating more congestion and pollution

From an environmental and financial perspective the optimal solution is to ensure that all waste is responsibly handled and recycled. The only justification for charges may be unsorted waste!

Council funding has been seriously squeezed over the last 15 years and much "discretionary" spend cut as statutory responsibilities take priority. Like the "boy who cried wolf" the response of councils has been to complain bitterly about the impact of "draconian" cuts to services.

For many years there seemed little impact - only now do the pips seem to be squeaking. For the Treasury cutting council grants must have seemed like the gift that never stops giving!

 

[Geoff_S]

My experience is that each council is different. Mine vs Dad’s for example.

My council also appears to have an annual “change of mind” with the occasional mid year adjustments.

At one time they decided to allow one free bag of hardcore and then £5 per bag. Plasterboard was the same, it was cheaper to buy the plasterboard than dispose of lt!

On the one occasion I took a bag of hardcore, I asked the fella how the new deal was going?

“Great!” he said “we used to have seven large trailers a week, now we only have one!”.

Sums it up really.