The county council removed booking systems at the beginning of the month following reports they cost the county council £9,000 a month to operate.
The decision came during a meeting in July which weighed up the reasons for doing so.
Reasons
In a report put before the council in July, it reported that the cost of processing the “click and tip” system cost around £8,000 per month, with cost of staff time estimated at £1,000 per month.
It added that there was “still a high proportion of complaints from the public” pertaining to the continued use of the booking system.
Some complaints stated that fly-tipping was a consequence of the booking system, however the council said there was no evidence to support this.
The council added that there was an issue with the number of ‘no-shows’ at HWRCs after bookings have been made.
It reported that with the system in place, 12-15% of bookings didn’t show up, which represented “an inefficient burden on the service when the greater demand of frustrated residents could be satisfied”.
Demand
Since the booking system was removed on 1 September, the council reported “unprecedented levels of demand” at the sites.
Mike Read, head of waste services at the county council said that the council was trying to keep all containers for all materials open.
He said: “We’re facing unprecedented levels of demand at recycling centres across the county following the removal of the booking system. We’re working hard to keep all out containers available to accept all waste types, but there may be times over the coming weekend when we might not be able to accept certain materials.”
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