Changes to bulky household item collection charges

Denbighshire County Council is set to change the way it charges for the collection of bulky items of household waste.

As of 1^st April 2019, the change will see the existing £5 per item charge reduced to a lower charge of £3 per item, with a new administration charge of £8 added to all requests.

This means that a request to collect a single bulky item, currently costing £5 will increase to  £11.  

A collection of the maximum of five items will cost £23, instead of costing £25 as at present.

Councillor Brian Jones, Cabinet Lead Member for Highways, Planning and Sustainable Travel, said: “The change in the charging structure is not aimed at increasing the revenues generated by the service but to ensure costs are covered on all collections and to make vehicle routing more efficient.

“The current flat charge means that the majority of collection requests are for single items which means that costs are not being covered on these collections.

“Historically we have had a number of repeat calls to properties requesting the collection of one item at a time. We  hope people will arrange to have items collected in one visit, rather than individual visits. This will help save them money and reduce the number of journeys we make and having a positive impact on the environment through less vehicle emissions.

“We believe the service continues to provide excellent value for money for residents.  Residents who are arranging house clearances to dispose of lots of items at the same time are encouraged to contact charities who are always seeking good quality furniture  to sell in their re-use shops in Denbighshire and can offer home collections.  Using Re-Use charities provides low cost goods for local people, extends the use of the furniture which helps the environment, but also raises money for great causes. It’s a win, win , win!”

He added: "There are many private waste collectors working in the area offering waste disposal services at a charge. We do urge that householders check the credentials of any waste collection firm before employing them.  

"They must be a registered waste carrier, which means they have to be able to prove where they take your waste.  This makes sure that the waste is disposed of responsibly.  Sometimes residents are offered a very low price by unscrupulous operators to take all their waste away and later find out it has been dumped illegally.  Householder’s have a legal “Waste Duty of Care” to ensure this doesn’t happen and can be fined if their waste is discovered fly tipped.  Initially, you can check if a business has a waste carriers licence by visiting the Natural Resources Wales website.”

For customers who use the service to have sacks of excess refuse collected the £8 administration charge will be made, then a rate of £1 per standard refuse sack will apply (up to a maximum of 12 sacks).

In the case of cancelled collections, whilst the £3 per item charge will be refundable the £8 administration fee will not. This is because of the cost of staff time of taking and processing orders and then the cost of making a refund.

Later in 2019, the Council plans to make it possible for residents to arrange and pay for household bulky waste collections online. More details of this service will be announced once the launch date is confirmed.