What rubbish does your council charge for?

[Geoff_S]

Epsom & Ewell used to be nothing was charged for.

And gradually we got charged for rubble, plasterboard & tyres. Plasterboard actually costs more to dispose of than it costs to buy!
Then they started on garden timbers, fences & sheds and the like.

And in June they are now going to extend that to ANY wood!

A single piece of wood is £4.00. A loose car load, whatever that is is £50.00!

£50.00 !!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

So essentially, they are charging for stuff that can be recycled, but landfill is free!

No doubt next year they will start on metals as well.

So what are other councils like?

I have to admit - I'm shocked by that. Where's the incentive to recycle? Just a money making scheme I bet. People won't pay that. Surely Epsom have recycling targets to meet and will be fined if they don't achieve them? Fly tipping coasts an absolute fortune to clean up.

Merton don't charge for anything for the regular public. Still have an increase in fly tipping though. Reported a load of asbestos in the street just last week.

I've recently used the Merton facility clearing my Dad's house. Completely different set of rules to Epsom, and totally free.

It really highlights the stupidity of it all when two council recycling centres so close together somehow manage to create different sets of rules. Maybe the whole lot should be nationalised with one set of rules for the country as a whole?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Down here in Cornwall, the charges are
Asbestos £10.30 per sheet or bag
Plasterboard £4.50 per bag
Tyres £3.30 per tyre
Soil/rubble £1.80 per small sack (small rubble sack)
Including bricks, breeze blocks, concrete, drainage pipes (ceramic/porcelain), gravel, hardcore, paving slabs, rubble, sand, sanitary ware (ceramic/porcelain toilets, bidets, sinks, shower trays, pipes, etc), soil, slates/slabs, stones, tarmac, tiles (ceramic, porcelain, floor, roof, wall) and turf
Other wood / green waste / household waste is okay to tip
But we cannot enter the site on foot, plus they close the site every five minutes to move lorries or skips, so the queue in the road can often stretch hundreds of yards up the road, which effectively blocks the road as some won't pass the queue to move on
And they wonder why fly tipping is on the increase, its everywhere blighting the countryside and lanes
So we report it and end up footing the bill through our council tax, ludicrous isn't it

Where are you talking about? United Downs by any chance? That's supposed to closing in a year or two and everything's moving to Pool. Anyone who thinks there's traffic problems now ain't seen nothing yet.

 

[whatknot]

Part of the problem is some councils sub it out to outside services, we have Serco here in Cornwall

 

[whatknot]

This is the Newquay tip


Where are you talking about? United Downs by any chance? That's supposed to closing in a year or two and everything's moving to Pool. Anyone who thinks there's traffic problems now ain't seen nothing yet.[/quote]

 

[HappyHacker]

I am in Cheshire West and Chester otherwise known as CWAC but they don't like that. (Quack for those like me who are slow on the uptake)

At the moment the recycling centre is free for domestic waste, although they closed the local small centre in a small town on two days a week, one of them being market day as it was too busy!

I went in with a trailer, I had some permits, but they had changed the system and I was met at the entrance by a nice man who videoed our conversation and gave me a quick form to fill in, 10 minutes later I had completed the form and was allowed in. He was talking to a car driver when I took the form back and the driver was getting very irate about being asked what he was bringing in. They usually make you open black bags going in the general waste to ensure there is no recycling stuff in the bin.

Locally hardly a week goes by without a large pile of stuff being flytiped on the verge, in a gateway, farmers field, lay-by and sometimes in the middle of the road.

 

[tomatwark]

We are quite lucky in the Scottish Borders, the recycling centres allow cars in and also depending on what you are dumping will let an occasional van in, with no charge

But what they did for traders was to introduce a permit which from memory is £900 per year, for a general one and £350.00 for recycling stuff such as cardboard and wood only and allows you 1 visit per day.

This sounds a lot but if you are going to have to hire skips it is not so bad for a small trader over the year.

Although there was a lot of things said at the introduction it seems to have settled down now an works fairly well.

They also offer a commercial kerb side collection as well, which is cheaper than most of the private operators, for most types of waste.

On the odd occasion I have had to use the tip with a van, a quick call to the council offices has sorted it and they rang the tip i was going to.

 

[Lons]

Northumberland charges and the increase in fly tipping since introduced in 2015 has been significant. Since then charges have increased and more types of waste become chargeable.

 

[boardgamer]

Charging for wood?!?!? Don't tell the muppets here in East Suffolk, they'll think that's a good idea and would cost me a fortune. At the moment the recycling centres only charge for plasterboard (£2.50/sheet) & hardcore (£2/25l). Given that they can actually sell hardcore, I don't understand why they dissuade people from bringing it in, but hey ho.

Oh, and of course we pay £43/year for our garden waste wheelie bin.

 

[Hlsmith]

The argument that the charges increase flytipping is completely pointless
The recycling centres are operated by a separate contractor on a separate contract to the highways contract
Flytipping clear up is paid for by either the county highways department or the district council
Therefore the contractors charging for the recycling center couldn't care less about flytips as it doesn't come out of there budget Or affect there kpi's

 

[Lons]

The argument that the charges increase flytipping is completely pointless
The recycling centres are operated by a separate contractor on a separate contract to the highways contract
Flytipping clear up is paid for by either the county highways department or the district council
Therefore the contractors charging for the recycling center couldn't care less about flytips as it doesn't come out of there budget Or affect there kpi's

Don't agree that it's pointless, far from it in fact.

Yes they are separate, yes private operators don't care less but any increase in fly tipping is paid for by ratepayers and if that has increased because hefty charges have been imposed, as is widely suggested then it is a very valid argument.

Since charges were introduced in our region, so have the incidents of fly tipping. I don't have latest figures to hand, not all incidents are logged btw, but here's the statement for 2016 - 17

Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show that there were 48,966 reported fly-tipping incidents in the North East between April 2016 and March 2017 and the clean-up cost for the region was £3.3million.

That period cost our local authority nearly £120,000, not massive in the overall budget but a % directly from my council tax which does concern me as that expenditure could have better been directed to save cost cutting in other areas.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I would put hidden cameras on the commonest fly tipping sites (to start with) and when tippers are caught take them them to court, fine them say £5000 for a first offence, confiscate and sell the vehicle, give then eleven points on their licence and ban them for life from driving anything larger than a bubble car. We get fly tipping 100 yards from the dump - often from vans and trucks the dump wouldn't allow in - it's not rocket science to catch them.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I have often wondered why we don't make it a bit harder for flytippers. I walk past one spot where developers have left one of those optimistic "might one day get access to that green space" stubs of road which serves currently as a convenient fly tippers layby. I deterred one guy with a van load of conifers by pausing and giving him a hard stare till he moved on. Why let developers leave opportunities like that in the first place ?

Our council did a consultation on "reducing waste collection costs". Ideas like monthly collections, charging for this and that, etc. I responded to make the fly tipping argument. I don't think we've heard the outcome yet.

 

[Lons]

They sometimes use cameras now Phil in the regular spots but the b**trds just go around the corner and tip just out of sight. There was an instance a few years ago where the council employees didn't hide them too well and the fly tippers nicked 2 cameras, no doubt they went to a boot sale somewhere. :roll:

The cost of cameras and labour time to install, check and process the data has to be factored in and the current penalties are too lenient so agree with your suggestions.

Bob

PS - What's a bubble car? :?



Only joking, I'm old enough to remember. :lol:

 

[Lons]

I have often wondered why we don't make it a bit harder for flytippers. I walk past one spot where developers have left one of those optimistic "might one day get access to that green space" stubs of road which serves currently as a convenient fly tippers layby. I deterred one guy with a van load of conifers by pausing and giving him a hard stare till he moved on. Why let developers leave opportunities like that in the first place ?

Our council did a consultation on "reducing waste collection costs". Ideas like monthly collections, charging for this and that, etc. I responded to make the fly tipping argument. I don't think we've heard the outcome yet.

We live in a village surrounded by farms Tony and access gate areas to fields are the biggest target for fly tippers. Most of that is cleared by the farmers themselves as they can't wait weeks for the council to clear it, none of those incidents are logged in official figures and in other areas there might have been dozens of tippings before they act and that often goes down as a single incident. It's a bigger problem than the official figures state.

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for a positive reply to your argument, at least not if anything like our local authority.

We have a different problem at the minute, the travellers are around the area in force, white vans with false number plates slowly driving around nosing to see what doors are open and items left out in the gardens, knocking on doors asking where a none existent "willy Gray lives" or " can we tarmac your drive".
I stood at our gates a few nights ago and stared them out then took photos but doesn't seem to bother them. We have 3 active and 2 retired policemen around us but even they haven't been able to sort them yet. :roll:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Back in the '80s we used to get travellers every week asking if we wanted our drive tarmacked or our dead elms taking down. I was standing upstairs looking out of the landing window with my mother one sunny morning and we watched the ubiquitous flat bed Transit park in the layby opposite and the driver get out and walk down the drive. He was a big lad, about 6'3", and he came face to face with my doberman. Her hackles shone in the sun. I wonder if he'll walk past her? my mum said, and at that point he stepped towards her. Suddenly there was a bark that seemed to come from the depths of the earth. traveller turned and looked behind him, and on top of the six foot hedge ready to jump was the English mastiff. Never have I seen anyone run and vault a five bar gate so fast. :lol:

 

[Hlsmith]

I know it costs us more but the contractors really couldn't care less and they are the ones making the rules
If it was a single contractor dealing with highways contract and the recycling contract then it would be different.
Also £120 grand is a drop in the ocean as to what these companies waste our tax money on
If the public realised what they are like there are far bigger concerns

 

[marcros]

the contractors probably dont care, but they are not setting the rules, they are following the contract. Perform a service in-house, or outsource it, and to whom is the decision of the council.

 

[Lons]

I know it costs us more but the contractors really couldn't care less and they are the ones making the rules
If it was a single contractor dealing with highways contract and the recycling contract then it would be different.
Also £120 grand is a drop in the ocean as to what these companies waste our tax money on
If the public realised what they are like there are far bigger concerns

Agreed but not a drop in the ocean to our local authority and the fact there are bigger issues doen'st mean it should be dismissed. The local authority sets the charges byw not the contractor!

The North East reagion was £3.3 million, I think that's a significant amount. :roll:

 

[rafezetter]

Back in the '80s we used to get travellers every week asking if we wanted our drive tarmacked or our dead elms taking down. I was standing upstairs looking out of the landing window with my mother one sunny morning and we watched the ubiquitous flat bed Transit park in the layby opposite and the driver get out and walk down the drive. He was a big lad, about 6'3", and he came face to face with my doberman. Her hackles shone in the sun. I wonder if he'll walk past her? my mum said, and at that point he stepped towards her. Suddenly there was a bark that seemed to come from the depths of the earth. traveller turned and looked behind him, and on top of the six foot hedge ready to jump was the English mastiff. Never have I seen anyone run and vault a five bar gate so fast. :lol:

lol do you have that quote on a macro or summat Phil? That's at least the third time I've seen you post that.

 

[rafezetter]

Come to Bristol - it's still free so far; and I hope it stays that way - charging for wood indeed, ludicrous - where are people going to dump thier mangy old garden furniture and broken beds?