Rubbish system for trade waste

Kent County Council contributed to more fly-tipping when it stopped tradesmen from depositing their waste at local refuse centres many years ago. It seemed ‘a good idea at the time’ as the saying goes, but as many tradespeople are selfemployed, work from home and have just a single van or truck, disposing of the waste produced by their labours is a constant problem. For larger projects skips are the obvious answer, but at £200 a time, plus council parking fees if they are parked on the road, these are not economic for small jobs.

I am fortunate to still be able to drive and have a car with those ‘magic seats’ that fold down to produce a large storage space, but many do not have these facilities and have to rely on others to dispose of any additional waste. As I understand it, the greatest costs of waste disposal are taking it to appropriate collection sites and sorting it into separate categories – both of these additional costs the council has to bear when dealing with flytipping!

But much of delivered and sorted waste has a commercial value, particularly metals, wood, cardboard, etc, and much of the other waste can be processed, so much so that many now see waste as a resource and a source of income!

So, I should have thought that the local council should have investigated the possibility of encouraging tradespeople to bring their sorted waste back to the domestic refuse centre, which I saw on my most recent visit now recycles 97.8% of items deposited there!

Litter is another problem that only better education and government-imposed heavy fines will solve, though a levy on all ‘throw away single use items’ to pay for the litter they produce should also be considered, both to reduce their use and pay for their collection.

Mike Armstrong Queens Avenue, Canterbury

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