NY Daily Wire
Man turned away from tip over DIY waste rules 2 hours ago Simon Spark East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire BBC Peter Allen said he thought the rules would discourage people from recycling properly A Lincoln man says he was turned away from a recycling centre after trying to dispose of old guttering from his mother's home. Peter Allen, 39, took the plastic guttering to Lincoln's household waste recycling centre after replacing it, but was told it could not be accepted under the council's rules on DIY waste. Lincolnshire County Council said its policy had not changed and that residents could bring only small quantities of DIY waste to recycling centres.
But Allen said the rules were confusing and feared they were "just going to lead to fly-tipping". Allen said staff initially told him the guttering could be recycled as hard plastic, but he was later informed it could not be accepted because it fell under the council's discretionary waste policy. The policy allows residents to bring the equivalent of one bin full (100 litres) or two 50-litre bags of soil, rubble, plasterboard, or a combination of those materials, per visit.
It also allows single items measuring no more than 6ft 7in (2m) long, 2ft 6in (750mm) wide and 2ft 4in (700mm) deep. As the guttering was less than 6ft 7in (2m) long, the council confirmed Allen would have been allowed to bring one piece per visit, up to a maximum of four visits in a four-week period. Lincolnshire County Council said: "As we cannot accept commercial or industrial waste, the rules are enforced by our site staff in determining what classes as a small quantity of DIY waste." The local authority said site staff would make decisions within guidelines on what constituted DIY waste Allen said he could have just chopped it up and put it in his black bin, but "as a responsible citizen" wanted to try and recycle it properly.
He said he found the situation frustrating and that relatives he had spoken to were also surprised by the restrictions. Recalling a conversation with his mother, he said: "I said to my mum 'oh, we can't get rid of your gutters', she's like, 'well, what am I meant to do with them?' I said, 'well, you've got to hire a skip' and she just sort of looked at me bewildered". The council said it hoped to introduce a booking system later in the year to help with queuing issues and said the system would also require people to register with the tip, which may help identify genuine household waste.
More on this story Related internet links
Source: BBC
