HWRC charges lead to more flytipping in Somerset

The Somerset Waste Partnership has revealed a significant increase in the level of fly-tipping across the county since the introduction of charging at four of its household waste and recycling centres at the start of April.

However, the statutory body which represents the Somerset county council and five district and borough councils – has sought to stress that the combination of charging and reduced opening hours is achieving savings well above predictions.

The Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) introduced a 2 per visit charge for all residents using the Coleford, Dulverton and Middlezoy recycling centres, and a 1.20 charge at the Crewkerne site, in April 2011 in a bid to help keep the sites open (see letsrecycle.com story).

The move met with a degree of negative publicity and was criticised by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles as being counter-productive (see letsrecycle.com story).

In papers set to be discussed by the Somerset Waste Board this Wednesday (June 22), the Waste Partnership outlines the first assessment of the move to charging, such as the impact on waste levels, and the financial implications of the scheme.

At the forefront, the SWP concedes that the charging scheme led to a significant increase in fly-tipping incidents. The number of recorded incidents across the five district council areas rose from 371 in March 2011 to 500 in April 2011, when charging was introduced, and then to 537 in May 2011.

In the documents, the SWP states that after the charges were introduced, waste was left at the entrance of six of the non-charging sites. Staff went through the waste to find evidence of addresses and the individuals or companies were then written to. In total, 20 letters were sent out.

However, the SWP claims that it envisions that the increase in fly-tipping will be short-lived and surmises that some of the incidents are no more prevalent than they were before the charges were introduced.

The SWP is keen to stress in the documents that it is too early to draw any firm conclusions on the impact of the charging scheme but, contrary to media speculation, it has not led to residual waste being moved across the county border or diverted into the kerbside stream.

Financial

The full financial implications of the increased fly-tipping are set to be discussed at the meeting. However, the documents do show that between 4,000 and 6,000 per month has had to be made available to the relevant district councils to help tackle the increased fly-tipping.

It states that the income derived from the charging scheme is, thus far, 18,000 short of the proposed target. However, the SWP claims that shortened opening hours have helped to save 15,000 and charges on the disposal of certain material types have also generated savings.

In total, the SWP claims that the charges and shortened hours have helped save 352,342 over the two months, which is 113,342 above its projected savings of 239,000.

Complaints

Furthermore, the reports indicate a level of public outcry over the decision to introduce charging. The documents show that district and borough councils received 248 emails or letters directly complaining about the decision and 120 phone calls on the topic were also recorded.

Assessing the practical impact of the charges, the documents also show an increase in traffic congestion at non-charging sites between April 1 and May 31.

However, the SWP states that site operator Viridor provided additional manpower to help address this issue. And, it added that the Partnership will also look at the layout of the Yeovil HWRC in particular to see if traffic could be routed differently.

Also, the simple matter of paying the entrance fee is raised in the documents, with Viridor staff keen to move from a cash-in-hand payment to an automated system. The SWP states that it intends to trial a payment metre at one its busier sites to gauge its effectiveness.

The report concludes with the recommendation that no further charges or site closures be introduced for the time being.