There are fresh concerns that a new ban on charges to dispose of DIY waste in England will push up costs for rural households.

Following a consultation, the Government announced that Local Authorities will have to scrap the charges for disposing DIY waste at household waste recycling centres (HWRCs), which can cost up to £10 per item.

Making the announcement, the Environment Minster, Rebecca Pow (Con, Taunton Deane) said:

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to dispose of their waste properly and that’s why we are removing the financial burden on doing the right thing with DIY trash.

“This not only supports our wider work to tackle fly-tipping and waste crime, but we are helping home improvers across the nation make their dream projects a reality.”

However, since the announcement, several councils have warned that the revenue generated by this service will have to be found elsewhere, potentially seeing increased costs in other areas. 

Devon County Council has warned that the government’s decision to scrap DIY waste charges “will make it harder” for it to maintain the household waste recycling centre (HWRC) service as it is.  In a statement, the council said:

“The Government’s decision will mean that we will lose around £1 million income – money we use to maintain the comprehensive service across all of our 19 Household Waste Recycling Centres in the county. 

“Plans therefore to stop councils charging for DIY waste will make it harder for us to maintain the Household Waste Recycling Centres service as it is.  We’ve said previously that such changes could mean us having to consider reducing opening hours.”

The Government clarified the law in 2015 that local taxpayers should not be charged for disposing of household waste at civic amenity sites.  It also called on councils not to charge for DIY household waste disposal either.  However, to date, around a third of Local Authorities still do so.  This announcement will now bring this to an end when the rules come into force later this year.