County council brings in charges for waste disposal

North Yorkshire County Council is to introduce charges for hardcore and rubble to all users of its 20 Household Waste and Recycling Centres.
Domestic users will be charged for the disposal of hardcore and rubble for the first time, though current restrictions on the amount that customers can bring onto sites is to be lifted

Charges are being introduced from 4 August 2014 and materials that will be charged for include breeze blocks, bricks, ceramics (e.g. sinks and toilets), concrete, flag stones, gravel, hardcore, pottery, rubble, sand, slates, soil, stones, tarmac, tiles, window glass and plasterboard. Household waste and recyclable items will not be affected by the changes and will not be charged for.

At the same time, however, the county council is opening up all its household waste sites to take commercial waste from businesses and traders to help encourage recycling and provide a cost effective and local disposal option.

At the moment this service to commercial customers is only available at Harrogate and Northallerton; but from 4 August all producers of commercial waste – businesses large and small through to community centres, churches, educational establishments, holiday parks – will be able to dispose of their waste at any of the county council’s sites, for an appropriate charge.

• 1 x 25kg bag or equivalent contents lose or boxed (minimum charge) – £2.52
• Up to 3 x 25kg bags or equivalent or 0.5 of a standard hatchback boot delivery – £7.56
• Up to 6 x 25kg bags or equivalent or a standard hatchback boot delivery – £15.12
• Up to 8 x 25kg bags or equivalent or an estate car or small car derived van or pick up or a small single axle trailer – £20.16
• Up to 10 x 25kg bags or equivalent or 0.5 of a standard transit sized van or pick up – £25.20
• Up to 20x 25kg bags or equivalent or 1 transit standard transit sized van or pick up – £50.40
• Up to 40 x 25kg bags or equivalent or 1 large double wheeled van or pick up – £100.80
• Up to 50 x 25kg bags or equivalent or 1 double axle builders type trailer – £126
• 1 x sheet or 25 kg bag or equivalent contents lose or boxed (minimum charge) – £6
• Up to 3 x sheets or 25 kg bags or equivalent or 0.5 of a standard hatchback boot delivery – £18
• Up to 6 x sheets or 25 kg bags or equivalent or a standard hatchback boot delivery – £36
• Up to 8 x 25kg bags or equivalent or an estate car or small car derived van or pick up or a small single axle trailer – £48
• Up to 10 x sheets or 25 kg bags or equivalent or 0.5 of a standard transit sized van or pick up – £60
• Up to 20 x sheets or 25 kg bags or equivalent or 1 standard transit sized van or pick up – £120
• Up to 40 x sheets or 25 kg bags or equivalent or 1 large double wheeled van or pick up – £240
• Up to 50 x sheets or 25 kg bags or equivalent or 1 double axle builders type trailer – £300

In addition to opening all sites to commercial waste customers, the county council is also extending the times when commercial customers can deliver their waste – from Monday to Saturday during normal site opening hours (all HWRC are closed on Wednesdays).

The introduction of charges follows a countywide consultation exercise and is part of the council’s overall austerity measures. Since 2011, the county council has implemented and made plans for total cuts in its spending of around £170m – which represents a third of its budget. The waste charges will lead to savings of around £330,000 per year.

Chris Metcalfe, Executive Member for Waste Management at North Yorkshire County Council said: The County Council has accepted hardcore and rubble at HWRCs free of charge for many years but it is a service we don’t have to provide and we can no longer afford to do it. We have no real choice but to charge, but I am pleased that we have been able to use this as an opportunity to lift restrictions on the amounts of hardcore and rubble we take.

Our HWRC operating contractors (Kier and Yorwaste) have both agreed to take on the challenge of providing the charged service on our behalf, and I am pleased to see that prices they have set are relatively modest and affordable, and offer great value for money compared to the alternatives such as hiring a skip.

I am also really pleased that we are able to open up all the sites to commercial waste for both disposal and recycling. Local businesses will now have a cost effective and accessible alternative disposal service on their doorstep which will help encourage recycling and reduce fly tipping. That’s great news for all of us”.

For more information on our new commercial waste service, and to see what waste types are accepted free of charge and what you will have to pay for, visit www.northyorks.gov.uk/hwrc or www.northyorks.gov.uk/commercialwaste