Businesses from outside Staffordshire banned from using county recycling centres

Staffordshire residents who want to use vans and trailers to take their household waste to centres will need a permit and be restricted to 12 visits a year.

The non-Staffordshire trade waste ban is due to come into force next month, with the permit system being introduced for vans and trailers in the autumn. But Staffordshire residents using cars will be able to continue visiting the recycling centres as usual.

The changes were approved by Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet on Wednesday (May 17). The authority took management of the county’s 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) back “in house” last year.

Councillor Simon Tagg, cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change, said: “Improvements have taken place and there are plans for even more improvements. Our priority for our sites is to serve the residents of Staffordshire – there are over 1.6m visits per year across the county which shows how valued they are for people to dispose of their recyclable material.

“A consultation was carried out on changes to the trade use and bulky waste. This will help to curb queues, make the service better for our residents and help address issues we have experienced, particularly because of trade waste vehicles taking space and considerable time to offload their waste.

“We have listened to what people said in the consultation. And they believe that a permit for residents for vans and trailers will be the best way forward.

“This will allow them to make 12 visits per year. But Staffordshire residents with cars will be able to use those sites for free without any need for a permit as they do at the moment.

“Some of our sites at the moment are open to trade use from outside the county, which is waste that’s not generated in the county but then has to be recycled at a cost here. For businesses in Staffordshire there’s going to be a process for them to still use the sites to get rid of waste, but those outside the county will not be able to use these sites in future.”

Councillor Tagg added that the authority had taken on board fears of flytipping, but said these were “unfounded”. “Whenever changes are made – whether it’s waste collections or recycling sites – there’s always the fear that there will be flytipping”, he told cabinet members.

“I can remember when garden waste collections were brought in and you had to pay for garden waste collections the fear flytipping would increase was unfounded. And many years ago when the county council brought in charges for bags of rubble and waste there were fears of flytipping then and those were unfounded.”

Council leader Alan White said: “People’s kneejerk reaction is to say ‘there will be more flytipping. The concerns about flytipping are clearly addressed.”

But Councillor Ian Parry raised concerns about “loopholes” in the new system. “I can almost see a black market for the permits if you need to use more than 12,” he said.

“It’s about making sure it’s fair and deliverable and you can enforce it. I think that’s what people want.”