Devon recycling centres open for DIY waste

… to reduce illegal flytipping

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Back in the summer, it was feared that recycling centres were at risk of closure amid the ban on DIY waste charges – under plans from central government. Those taking in waste such as plasterboard had to pay a fee at recycling centres in Devon – and these allowed Devon County Council to make about £1m per year in income from charges for DIY waste.

Now the council has declared that, from the new year, small amounts of DIY waste are to be accepted free of charge at Recycling Centres:

Councillor Roger Croad, the County Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for waste, said: “The change in legislation means that small amounts of DIY waste, in some circumstances, will be accepted for free at household waste recycling centres. There are limits to how much a person can dispose of for free, and how frequently. Any DIY waste in excess of those limits will be subject to a charge in the normal way. We won’t know the impact that this change in legislation will have on our costs until we’ve some experience of it. We will, however, be introducing a new scheme in the New Year to help us mitigate the additional costs.”

With more information from the waste and recycling department’s webpages – on Chargeable waste in Devon.

In other words, the new ‘tip-tax’ change is not a free-for-all.

And yet, to go back to the original intention of the government, the point of this step is to reduce the amount of illegal flytipping happening in rural areas: let’s see if this is effective in this regard.