When is a ‘dump’ not a ‘dump’: when it is a ‘reuse centre’

“The Environment Secretary told a meeting that he wanted to change rules at council recycling centres so people can recover valuables. Currently, many local authorities ban people from taking away anything from their tips. However, Mr Gove said he wanted the rules to be relaxed.”

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Sidmouth’s Recycling Centre doesn’t seem to want people to do any actual ‘recycling’, with a message posted last week:

Anyone want a rocking horse? Saw it at the dump and they said they were going to smash it up and that, no, I couldn’t take it. I asked if they could do anything to stop me, and then took it. I hate how much we destroy and waste for no apparent reason at all.

(20+) Facebook

Here’s a message to the Devon Recycle Officer back in 2018:

Here in Derbyshire the local council runs waste disposal sites (sometimes called ‘dump it’ sites). You probably know the sort of place, where you turn up with a car load of stuff and dump it into various huge skips depending on what it might be that you’re throwing away. BBC TV have even made a TV show out of it called ‘Money For Nothing’. It’s based on the premise that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and people often throw away perfectly good items. people working at these sites regularly seem to fish things back out of the skips and there’s often a lot of items about the place. But ask if you can take anything away to re-use it and it’s always a firm NO! At least that’s the situation around here.

Futures Forum: Devon Repair Cafés > and increasing Reuse and Reducing disposal at Recycling Centres

At the same time, the then-Environment Secretary was saying exactly the same thing:

Homeowners should be allowed to scavenge for old televisions, furniture and appliances at dumps so they can reuse them, Michael Gove has suggested. The Environment secretary told a meeting that he wanted to change rules at council recycling centres so people can recover valuables. Currently, many local authorities ban people from taking away anything their tips,however Mr Gove said he wanted the rules to be relaxed.

Futures Forum: “We must reduce the amount of material we waste: greater reuse is one way to ensure that pressure on resources diminishes.” >>> but in the UK there is a postcode lottery on re-using goods. Some local councils encourage people to take items from recycling dumps – but others forbid it

Today, the UK government is mapping out the future for ‘recovering resources and managing waste’:

Our waste, our resources: a strategy for England

And local government is keen on “maximising value from reused materials”:

Routes to reuse | local.gov.uk

Meanwhile in Finland:

Finland: Where second-hand comes first – BBC News