Global charity Oxfam dumped cost of ditching waste on us taxpayers

ONE of Britain’s biggest charities took advantage of Kirklees Council’s charity by dumping hundreds of tonnes of waste on Kirklees taxpayers.

Information uncovered by the Examiner has revealed that Oxfam shunted large volumes of unwanted textiles from around the country to a Kirklees Council tip.

The huge charity – the fourth richest in the UK with an income in excess of £400m – has been making use of the council’s policy of disposing of local charity waste for free.

But while other charities brought small amounts, Oxfam brought huge volumes of textiles to the Thornhill Waste Transfer Station at Dewsbury via its Batley depot.

Documents provided to the Examiner under Environmental Information Regulations law, say the amount of textile waste the council was having to deal with increased from 330 tonnes in 2011/12 to 1,364 tonnes in 2014/15.

They say the huge increase was traced back to Oxfam, which had been bringing its excess textiles from its depot at Grange Road.

Like all charities at the time, it was allowed to drive its vehicles in and have free access to the site.

The exact amount attributed to Oxfam has not been revealed.

Council officials have said they knew Oxfam had a depot in Batley for regional charity shops but they were unaware it was being used to sort waste from all over the UK.

Their investigation discovered the Oxford-based organisation had been taking Kirklees taxpayers to the cleaners – including on one occasion shipping an entire lorry load of unwanted Halloween costumes from Milton Keynes to Kirklees with the expectation the council would pay the disposal costs.

Textile waste from Kirklees’ tips is sent to be burnt at the ‘Electricity from Waste’ incinerator at Vine Street, Huddersfield.

Documents reveal, the council’s waste contractor Suez raised concerns about the levels of textile burning, saying it was causing elevated readings of hydrogen chloride and sulphur-trioxide – the main cause of acid rain.

To avoid breaching environmental law, Suez was forced to send them to landfill.

Councils are charged a landfill tax, which this year is £84.40 per tonne.

At the time Oxfam had a deal with the council of £21.25 per tonne up to 96 tonnes per month.

Anything above that and they were supposed to pay a higher rate as agreed with Suez.

It has not been revealed how much Oxfam did pay.

Kirklees Council has confirmed no legal action was taken against Oxfam.

In January this year, the policy to allow charities free access to waste disposal sites was scrapped.

The council has commented: “It is important from both a legal and ethical view that council tax money paid by Kirklees residents does not go to subsidise organisations beyond our statutory duties, especially those that are on a national scale.”

A spokesperson for Oxfam said: “Textiles are not transported to Kirklees to be disposed of.

“Oxfam’s Wastesaver site at Batley sorts and recycles or resells unused textiles for the Oxfam’s UK shop network, including some occasional donations coming from corporates.

“The aim is to maximise the value of everything we are given and minimise waste.

“Oxfam currently pays charges for the use of the plant to the contractor, and has paid charges in the past according to council and legal requirements.

“Oxfam has always worked closely with Kirklees Council to make sure we abide by all environmental policies and regulations.

“Oxfam works hard to send no textiles to landfill: a small proportion of items which cannot be reused or recycled in any way are sent to be incinerated at a green energy plant, which is managed by an external contractor in West Yorkshire who produces electricity for the local area.

“We’re proud that virtually everything we receive gets re-used in some way and raises vital funds to fight poverty around the world.”