Residents in Derbyshire are being invited to have their say about proposals for the way household waste recycling centres are run in the future, including the site in Ilkeston on the Manners Industrial Estate.
Including the site in the borough, Derbyshire County Council currently runs nine recycling centres across the county for use by Derbyshire residents only. The centres, which accept household waste only, are all open seven days a week from 8.30am-6pm, except on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Now the county council has launched a public consultation to find out what local people think about:
- reducing the number of hours or days the centres are open.
- charging residents to dispose of tyres and asbestos at the recycling centres
- supporting local businesses and sole traders by allowing them to dispose of commercial waste at a limited number of the recycling centres for a reasonable charge. Trade waste is currently not accepted at any of the sites
- adopting the government definition of DIY waste which can be disposed of at recycling centres for free. This includes construction waste produced by residents themselves while making improvements to their home; limits the amount of construction waste residents can take to the sites to up to two 50L rubble bags (or one bulky or fitted item no larger than 2,000mm by 750mm by 700mm, the approximate size of a bathtub or shower screen); and allows residents to dispose of construction waste not more than four times over a four-week period.
Councillor Carolyn Renwick, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Environment, said: “Like many councils across the country, the county council is facing huge budget pressures from external forces including higher than anticipated inflation which impacts all areas of our expenditure.
“We’re constantly looking for ways to make the services we provide more efficient and effective and we want to know what local residents and businesses think about changes proposed to the way our recycling centres are run in the future.
“All comments will be taken into account and I’d encourage as many people as possible to take part in the public consultation which is available online at derbyshire.gov.uk/recyclingcentreviews.”
In addition, the County are asking residents about what support they might need to access a vehicle registration scheme to use the recycling centres.
The registration scheme is being introduced to make sure those using the sites are entitled to do so. It follows a 32% increase in the amount of waste collected at the sites since 2017/18 which has risen to 85,000 tonnes a year, costing an extra £700,000 to £800,000 in annual recycling and disposal costs.