Purpose

To implement the Government’s proposed
legislative changes to the Council’s Waste Access and
Acceptance Policy for the Household Recycling Centres (HRC) which
needs to be amended.

Content

The Council was the
Waste Disposal Authority (WDA) and was under a statutory duty to
provide Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) under the Environmental
Protection Act (EPA) 1990 Section 51 and the WDA provided 10 sites
across the County operated under contract by FCC. Under the EPA,
‘household’ waste had to be accepted without charge at
HRCs and the existing legislation allowed the WDA to charge for
certain ‘non-household’ or DIY/ construction/
demolition type waste streams.  The Council introduced
charging for these non-household waste streams in April
2019.
 
On 18 June 2023, the
Government announced their intention to abolish charges on small
amounts of DIY wastes brought to HRCs by setting a minimum
threshold level to be accepted without charge. On 21 November 2023,
the new regulations were laid in Parliament and stated
that:
Waste from construction or industrial waste,
demolition works, including preparatory works is to be treated as
household waste for the purpose of (a) Section 32(2) and (2a) of
the Act, (disapplication of Section 34(1) and duty of the occupier
of domestic property to transfer household waste only to an
authorised person or for authorised transport purposes); and (b)
section 51 of the Act (functions of waste disposal authorities, but
only where-
        
i.         The
waste is produced at a domestic property by occupiers of that
domestic property carrying out their own construction or demolition
works, including preparatory works;
       ii.         The
waste is not from construction or demolition works, including
preparatory works, for which payment has been or is to be
made;
     iii.          The
amount of waste delivered to any disposal site in a single visit is
either –
a.      Less than 100 litres and capable of being fitted into
two 50 litre bags OR
b.       a single article of waste no larger than 2000mm x
750mm x 700mm in size and; 
      iv.         Waste
delivered to waste deposit sites does not exceed four single visits
per household in any four week period.
 
The current Waste
Access and Acceptance Policy (WAAP) charged for all non-household
waste streams. Under the legislative changes any DIY waste produced
by a tradesperson, including landlords, would remain liable to a
charge without any free threshold. As such, no changes to WAAP were
required in respect of tradespersons or commercial waste. The
changes required to WAAP related only to the charges for
Buckinghamshire Council residents for household DIY waste over the
free threshold of one load per week at HRCs and non-Buckinghamshire
Council residents for all waste types. Due to the short timeframe,
the Council might not be able to implement a robust management
system, which would have been more streamlined (likely to centre
around a revised version of the Council’s current e-permit
system), by 31st December 2023. The Council was working on this to
understand the requirements in order to implement the new e-permit
system and this would be implemented during 2024. Therefore, a
phased approach with full implementation no later than the July
2024 was being recommended. The Cabinet report set out the changes
and how this would be implemented.
 
In relation to recommendation 4
reassurance was given that Cabinet Members would be informed and
consulted on any significant amendments in the finalising and
adopting of the revised Waste Acceptance and Access Policy, which
would be submitted to Cabinet, if necessary.
 
RESOLVED –
 

That the
following take effect from the date of compliance on 31 December
2023: 
 

(1)              
That the
principles as set out in the draft Waste Access and Acceptance
Policy (WAAP Appendix 1) be AGREED, which stays the same except for
charges for non-household waste under the legislative threshold are
to be removed, and in principle approval of the
draft policy in line with the changes set out in the
legislation.
 

(2)              
That
charging for non-household DIY waste be removed for those eligible
below the free threshold in line with the legislation for
Buckinghamshire Council residents and noting that
charging remains in place
for above the threshold for all DIY/construction and industrial
waste (also known as non-household) for Buckinghamshire users
across the HRC network.
 

(3)              
That
charging be maintained for all
waste types for non-Buckinghamshire residents across the HRC
network, with no free thresholds to apply (for waste quantity and
frequency of visits) unless a Service Level Agreement is in
place.
 

(4)              
That
authority be delegated to the Service Director of Legal Services,
Service Director of Neighbourhood Services and the Head of
Strategic Waste Management and Enforcement, in consultation with
the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, to undertake
all necessary appropriate steps in relation to
finalising and adopting the revised Waste
Acceptance and Access Policy (WAAP Appendix 1), after considering
relevant Equality Impact Assessment and Data Protection Impact
Assessment, and to make necessary changes arising from any enacted
legislation.
 

(5)              
That it be
NOTED that the financial implications associated with the
recommendations form part of the Council’s budget setting
process Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2024/25 to
2027/28.