Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change	8 June 2022
Report of the Director of Economy and Place Portfolio of the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change

DEFRA Consultation on Disposal of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres

Summary

1. In April 2022, the Government published a consultation regarding the proposals to re-classify disposal arrangements for ‘DIY waste’ at household waste recycling centres (HWRC’s).  

2. The consultation builds on the Resources and Waste Strategy and the Government are consulting on the technical detail to amend legislation so that local residents cannot be charged for disposing of their DIY waste at their local HWRC’s.

Background

3. Currently both residents and traders can use HWRC’s to dispose of their waste. The vast majority of items can be disposed of free of charge but there are charges for certain types of material; this is due to the cost of processing and treating such material (e.g. bricks, rubble, plasterboard, fire extinguishers and asbestos). Residents can visit the HWRC’s as often as they want and can recycle a large range of materials at the HWRC’s for free. There are certain types of ‘everyday’ materials that are charged for due to the costs of treating such products (e.g. bricks, rubble and plasterboard) and it is this ‘DIY’ waste that the Government is considering changing the disposal arrangements for.

4. The Government are proposing that residents be allowed to dispose of DIY waste free of charge and that any authorities that currently charge householders to dispose of their DIY waste will be required to absorb the additional costs.

5. Therefore, the re-classification of construction waste as DIY waste could have some significant implications for local authorities.

Recommendations

This section should set out clearly the author’s recommendation for a particular option and the reasons why.

6. The Executive Member is asked to:

(i) Consider and approve the City of York Council response to the DEFRA consultation (as set out in Appendix A).

Reason: In order to provide a response to the DEFRA Consultation on Disposal of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres.

HWRC’s

7. Residents are able to recycle a large number of items for free at HWRC’s. Currently, residents can recycle the following materials free of charge (these include paper, cardboard, cartons, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, hard plastics, metal cans and tins, textiles, clothes, shoes, garden waste, electrical equipment including fridges and freezers, wood, scrap metal etc).

8. There are charges for certain items at HWRC’s and these are for bricks, rubble and plasterboard. There is also a charge for asbestos. The charges are as follows:-

Waste type	Charge
Bricks or rubble, per bag	£3.00
Bonded asbestos, per sheet (less than 180 centimetres by 60 centimetres)	£7.50
Bonded asbestos, per sheet (more than 180 centimetres by 60 centimetres)	£15.50
Bonded asbestos, per bag (able to be lifted by one person)	£7.50
Plasterboard, per bag (able to be lifted by one person)	£7.50

Please note that asbestos is not accepted from traders. If a tradesperson has removed asbestos on a resident’s behalf, they are responsible for disposing of it safely. 

9. In addition, to recycling materials, residents can also dispose of general household waste (i.e. non-recyclable waste) and this is then sent to Allerton Park Energy Recovery Plant for processing.

10.Traders can dispose of waste at the Hazel Court HWRC (where there is a weighbridge facility). Traders must register before using Hazel Court HWRC to dispose of their commercial waste. There is a permit scheme in place to manage this arrangement and traders can register their vehicle and trailer for this purpose. Traders have a sticker which they display in their vehicle so it makes the process easy to manage for site staff.

Financial Implications

11.In 2021/22, income from charging for disposal at HWRC’s was £187k. (both householder and traders). The budget is ordinarily circa £100k. It should be noted that income was significantly higher than in the previous year which is likely an impact of covid and the number of home improvement schemes that have been undertaken by the general population.

12.If the current charges were to be removed then this will affect the income at HWRC’s. In addition, there is a significant risk that many traders who undertake improvement works at householder’s properties will, if the proposals in the consultation are adopted, leave the waste to be disposed of for free by householders. This has the potential to greatly increase the budget local authorities will be asked to absorb.  

Human Resources (HR)

13.The sites are managed by Yorwaste. Whilst there are no direct HR issues, the proposals as set out in the consultation, may lead to more trips to sites and it will be difficult for site staff to regulate the disposal of DIY waste from householders.

Equalities: n/a

Legal: n/a

Risk Management: n/a

Contact Details

Author:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Ben Grabham Head of Environmental Services Economy and Place 07749 710152	James Gilchrist Director; Transport, Environment and Planning Economy and Place
	Report Approved	√	Date	27/05/22
Wards Affected:					All	√
For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

Annexes

Appendix A – Proposed response from City of York Council

List of Abbreviations Used in this Report

[All abbreviations used throughout the report should be listed here in full, e.g. CCSSMC – Customer & Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee.]