The consultation paper, the second released by Defra on England's waste controls, says that the change is needed due to the varying size of registered carriers currently operating.
The proposed upper tier of the system would include annual compliance checking and apply to those carrying others' waste as a normal and regular part of their business and also to producers of construction and demolition waste who transport waste themselves. The report rebuked further differentiation in this category as “complex and confusing for small businesses.”
The lower tier would be formed of businesses carrying others' waste infrequently, the charity and voluntary sector and also agricultural waste. Registrations for the lower tier would be a one-off £30 charge, while new applications in the upper tier would cost £60 for a year with one-year renewals costing £45.
The current charge for waste carriers is £149 for new registration and £99 for renewals, both of which last three years. The report states that new charges would come into effect in April 2009.
Disc
The plans would include vehicles carrying proof of registration and also a disc complete with the vehicle's registration number to display in the windscreen. The use of the registration number would stop companies floating discs between large numbers of vehicles but also mean that those using temporary transport would have to apply for a new disc in the meantime.
The proposal claims that this initiative would make waste carriers more “visible” and work in a very similar way to the DVLA's road tax system or the ‘Blue Badge scheme' for disabled persons' parking. The report hypothesises that roughly 400,000 discs would need to be issued annually to cover the waste carriers currently operating in England.
The report also tackled the issues of TFS, compliance and duty of care. Responses to the consultation will be accepted until Monday 8 September.
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