Families face new rubbish tip ‘tax’
Government launches review of ‘arbitrary’ fees as councils start charging for DIY waste
COUNCILS have begun charging householders to dump waste at rubbish tips, it has emerged, leading the Government to launch a review into the arbitrary fees.
Some 47 local authorities now insist on payments, including Buckinghamshire council, which released a new “price list” this month demanding up to £20 for items including boilers, taps, lavatory seats, fence posts, plasterboard, pond liners and wood burners.
Likewise in June, gardeners in Kent were hit with £4 charges for disposing of bags of soil or rubble, while households in Devon must now pay £3.90 for dumping shower trays and tyres.
Councils claim they are under no obligation to accept “non-household waste”, but campaigners say charging could lead to a rise in fly-tipping.
Allison Ogden-newton, the chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “Helping people to legally dispose of their rubbish will reduce, rather than encourage, fly-tipping.”
The Department for the Environment (Defra) described fees as a “backdoor” tax and said homeowners should be allowed to dump rubbish from improvements free of charge. It is launching a review that could see councils banned from levying fees.
The Telegraph recently launched a Zero Waste campaign to make recycling and rubbish disposal easier and consistent across Britain. But an investigation found a chaotic system with some councils charging while neighbouring authorities granted free access.
Medway council even considered banning people from its rubbish tips, and demanding to see proof of address, after Kent county council imposed fees across the border.
Some local authorities, such as Blackpool and Stockport, have imposed permit fees or charges of up to £20, while Norfolk county council demands £5 for each dustbin-sized bag.
Other councils, such as the London borough of Brent, weigh cars as they enter rubbish dumps, and have a minimum charge of £16 for loads of up to 100kg (220lbs). Lewisham, Darlington and Torbay refuse all DIY waste.
Latest Defra figures show the number of multi-load fly-tipping incidents rose 43 per cent from 2016-17 to 201718, with the cost of the clean-up rising from £9.9million to £12.2million.
Last week, ambulance crews in Kent were delayed reaching an elderly man who had collapsed because they had to stop twice to clear piles of rubbish from the road. Kent increased its fly-tipping budget by £4million in the run-up to the new charges, which critics claim was in anticipation of a rise in littering.
Robin Edwards, of the Country Land and Business Association, said: “In many parts of Kent, the number of flytipping cases is rising. It would be very disappointing if the numbers were to grow bigger as a result of these fees.”
EVER since wheelie bins were fitted with microchips to spy on residents’ rubbish, it has often appeared that local authorities have been in a race to find the most inventive way to charge households for getting rid of rubbish.
Many councils already charge for garden waste to be collected, while some have begun fining residents for putting their recycling in the wrong bins. Now local authorities are getting even more creative.
Buckinghamshire county council this month released a price list of charges for residents who want to dump waste at its rubbish tips. It costs people £2.50 for a 25-litre bag of stones, £10 to get rid of a shower door and £7.50 for a kitchen worktop.
In South Tyneside, the council has even started to sell its residents’ rubbish back to them.
Turning recycling into a business, the council has established The Groundwork shop based at the Recycling Village, where locals can buy a donated tumble dryer for up to £120, a settee for up to £110 and a dining table for up to £50.
On their website, STC said: “We take in a variety of donated goods that are safety checked and cleaned before being put on sale in the warehouse.”
Other councils are using weight to price up waste including the London Borough of Bromley which charges residents the same rate as trade or commercial waste if they want to dispose of soil, brick, rubble, DIY and construction waste. With a minimum charge of £23, vehicles have to use a weighbridge for an exact price.
The London Borough of Hillingdon asks people bringing larger quantities of DIY waste to pay the full trade waste rate of £197 per ton, with the minimum charge of £19.70 for up to 100kg.
Campaigners say the spurious charges are a result of a chaotic system which needs a complete overhaul.
Maddy Haughton-boakes, litter campaigner at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “While this is a risky approach and could see an increase in fly-tipping … it is simply a consequence of our ineffective waste management system and yet another reason why it needs a complete overhaul.”
Martin Tett, environment spokesman for the Local Government Association, said that the introduction of charges by some councils was “due to the rising costs of providing the service and the enormous financial pressure they are under.”
Entry fees for dump access have also seen residents pay £2 to go into two of the Somerset Waste Partnership’s (SWP) community recycling sites, at Crewkerne and Dulverton.
The cash entry fee is on top of charges for hardcore, soil, tyres and gas bottles, which must be paid by card only. Changes announced by SWP earlier this year revealed they plan to scrap the £2 charge by April 2020.
Last year, The Telegraph reported that Government guidance warned councils about issuing fines of up to £100 for “minor problems” with recycling. Despite this, Huddersfield council was reported to have impounded 1,341 recycling bins in May, following the introduction of a new policy on April 1 with residents unclear if they would face a charge for having their bins confiscated.
Mike Whiting, Kent county council cabinet member for the environment and waste, said: “There is no obligation on the county council to take any waste other than a resident’s own household waste free of charge … soil, rubble, hardcore and plasterboard, even if originating from a domestic property, are treated as non-household waste when it comes to us disposing of it.
He said the charge was “modest” and that any surplus income would be “reinvested in the service”.
Mr Whiting added that there was no “significant” evidence from other councils that have introduced charges that it has led to increased fly-tipping despite concerns.