Trade waste from outside Staffordshire no longer accepted at county's recycling centres

Household Waste Recycling Centre

People from outside Staffordshire with trade waste are being reminded that they can no longer dispose of their waste at Staffordshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).

The changes follow recent proposals by Staffordshire County Council to help reduce queues and improve services for residents.

From 5 June 2023, the sites will only be accepting trade and commercial waste from businesses within the Staffordshire County Council local authority area. All trade visitors will need to provide a copy of their waste carriers licence and business address before disposing of waste.

Staffordshire's 14 HWRCs are heavily used by residents, with approximately 1.6 million visits each year, of which only 20,000 are related to trade waste.

Simon Tagg, Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure and Climate Change at Staffordshire County Council explained that the county council was committed to providing efficient and effective waste disposal services for Staffordshire residents.

Cllr Tagg said:

"These changes aim to tackle the issue of long queues at our sites caused by trade waste vehicles taking up space and time during waste disposal.  We have listened carefully to feedback from the public consultation and concluded that issuing permits to residents with vans or trailers, while restricting trade waste to within Staffordshire, is the best way to ensure quick and efficient waste disposal for households.

“There will be no change to Staffordshire residents disposing of waste in cars. Disposal of non-chargeable items will remain the same for both residents requiring and not requiring permits.”

The county council remains committed to investing in and improving its HWRCs, aligning its policies with those of surrounding local authorities.

People can read more about Staffordshire’s HWRCs and the changes here.