Commercial vehicles are expected to pay a commercial waste fee and use the specified sites to dump their waste.
But following a survey into the recycling sites, the council found that there had been an “increase in firms getting rid of rubbish for free to avoid paying trade waste fees”.
Abuse
The council had found that their policy of allowing residents using cars and vans into HWRCs was “open to abuse” with experience of traders posing as members of the public to avoid paying disposal costs.
In a Dundee council report in September 2016, Elaine Zwirlein, executive director of neighbourhood services said: “Despite procedures being in place, effectively enforcing the current policy and taking action against suspected traders or enforcing a site ban from known traders is difficult.”
She added that there was also “potentially a significant loss of income to the council due to the appropriate charges for commercial waste being avoided…Although the number of traders using both HWRC’s has not been quantified, anecdotal evidence suggests that it is a regular occurrence”.
Height barriers
The residents permits for non-commercial vehicles follows the introduction of height barriers at all sites to control the depositing of commercial waste at household waste recycling centres.
The council is also reserving the right to refuse access to the site if they suspect the waste is commercial in origin – even with the issue of a permit.
Dundee’s recycling centres have tight security at their sites, with CCTV and DVLA web enabled enquiry systems (WEE) as well as body cameras on all recycling centre staff to investigate breaches of waste regulations and prevent crime.
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