Kent County Council charges for Household Waste

Leader of Kent County Council Paul Carter has today (Thursday) announced a new household waste site for Kent in Tonbridge and Malling, alongside successful negotiations allowing Kent residents to use Medway sites, and funding to tackle flytipping.

Speaking at the County Council meeting, Mr Carter said that from June 3, the county’s 18 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across Kent will continue to receive household waste, with a modest charge for the disposal of soil, rubble, hardcore and plasterboard.

He said: “The income derived will help us to further improve our Household Waste Recycling Centres and indeed, expand them.

“I am pleased to announce today that we will open and fund an additional Household Waste Recycling Centre in Allington, within the next 12-15 months, which will service the Tonbridge and Malling and surrounding area, taking the pressure off Medway Council’s facility at Cuxton.

“I am also pleased to report that negotiations with Medway Council were satisfactorily concluded yesterday so that the reciprocal arrangements enabling Kent residents on the border of Medway being able to utilise their HWRCs, and similarly Medway residents accessing Kent’s facilities, will continue unchanged.

“In addition, we will be providing an additional £250,000 to crack down on flytipping, an anti-social crime often carried out by criminal gangs. Over 90% of fly-tipped waste we see in the county could have been disposed of free of charge at an HWRC or from a kerbside collection.

“While I do not believe the new policy will turn law-abiding citizens into criminals, I cannot predict what criminal gangs might do in response. However, we will be launching a campaign for additional enforcement with the money being made available to the Kent Environmental Crime Waste Practitioners Group.

“This group includes Kent Police, the Environment Agency, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and district and borough councils. Yesterday we spoke to Kent Police, NFU and a number of district councillors who are encouraged and enthused by this additional investment. This campaign will now take enforcement and detection to a new level.”

KCC operates 18 HWRCs, providing facilities for the recycling and disposal of more than 30 different types of waste.

Each year Kent’s household waste sites receive approximately 185,000 tonnes of waste and 3.5 million visits, at a cost of approximately £10 million to the taxpayer.

For further information, visit www.kent.gov.uk/waste