Hertfordshire clamps down on commercial waste at HWRCs

As of January the council has imposed a permitting scheme which requires drivers of vans or pickup trucks or drivers with trailers to sign up to a free pass to dispose of waste on sites.

Users are given a 12-month permit, over the life of which they will be able to visit any of the council’s 17 HWRC sites up to 12 times. Any users exceeding this limit will then be required to send their permit back to the operator of the sites, contractor Amey, which will check to ensure that the request is genuine and approve the issue of any new permits.

Drivers arriving at sites in vans or other commercial-type vehicles will be asked to provide proof of short-term hire, with use of such vehicles to be monitored centrally by the council.

The council claims that the scheme will prevent the ‘misuse’ of its HWRCs by commercial users, who may be seeking to use the sites to dispose of waste that it would otherwise cost them to get rid of.

‘Misuse’

Terry Douris, Hertfordshire’s cabinet member for waste management, said: “The permits are free of charge for Hertfordshire residents. The only way to control the misuse of the centres is to monitor all vans, trailers and pickup trucks that use the sites, as it is not always easy to identify vehicles being used for commercial purposes.

“Amey has strong experience and an excellent reputation at managing centres elsewhere in the country. As well as running an efficient and cost effective service, they will be introducing new schemes that will benefit our residents.”

Amey was awarded an eight-year contract to manage all of Hertfordshire’s HWRC sites in 2014, and is seeking to bring about £6 million in savings through the contract (see letsrecycle.com story).

Paul Greenwell, Managing Director for Waste Treatment Services at Amey, said: “Making these changes allows us to continue to offer a quality service to residents which focuses on further improving the facilities provided to our customers in Hertfordshire. In the coming months we will be expanding the reuse offering at our sites and will also be piloting a trade waste scheme for small businesses to be located near one of our sites.”