Council plan to charge for DIY waste (From Western Telegraph)

Council plan to charge for DIY waste

2:00pm Saturday 15th September 2012 in News

The Pembrokeshire public could soon be charged for disposing of certain items at civic amenity sites, if new proposals for a ‘three for free’ charging scheme are adopted.

The new system would let householders dispose of three items of DIY materials such as baths, kitchen units and window frames for nothing, then a charge would be imposed if they needed to dispose of any more such items.

A £2 per item charge was suggested, with all proceeds going to waste and recycling projects.

General household items and green waste would still be accepted free of charge and the right to refuse entry would be reserved for those seen to be in breach of the fair usage policy.

The authority’s head of environmental services, Richard Brown, said that several existing schemes had been researched and examined but that no two authorities operated the same system.

He explained the authority had no statutory responsibility to deal with trade waste, but that the problem lay with the fact that a lot of businesses had the same waste as many households.

He said the ‘three for free’ system had been chosen as a draft proposal as it was “very simple, clear to understand, and consistent”.

“This is the best of the schemes out there we’ve come across, but it is not without problems.

“It’s probably the best of a bad bunch,” he added.

Members agreed to consider the ‘three for free’ scheme’ and continue with the current schedule of charges for the time being.

They also approved measures to improve signage and public communications, the introduction of staff training and the use of a ‘secret shopper’ and an examination of cashless payment options.