 |
Surrey
Heath Borough Council Surrey Police Woking Area
Primary Care Trust Surrey County
Council |
NEWS
RELEASE |
New Household
Duty of Care
The Government has introduced regulations that extend the waste ‘Duty
of Care’ by requiring householders to ensure their waste is disposed
of properly.
This Duty came into force on Monday 21st November 2005 and means that
Councils will be able to take action against anyone who has failed to
take reasonable measures to ensure their waste is passed on to an authorised
person. The Duty emphasises the responsibility that all residents should
not support illegal waste transfer and fly-tipping, whether knowingly
or unknowingly.
Surrey Heath Borough Council is keen to help residents ensure they meet the Duty of Care and do not get fined for disposing waste incorrectly.
Duty of Care & Waste Minimisation
Each year Surrey Heath produces approximately 29,800 tonnes of waste and
this is continuing to rise. This equates to 0.83 tonnes of rubbish per
household. In 2003/04 approximately 23% of this waste was recycled. It
is essential that this growth trend is turned around and not only recycle
more but also minimise the waste produced and reuse items wherever possible.
It currently costs taxpayers £2¼ million each year to deal with the waste in Surrey Heath. It would clearly be beneficial if every household could reduce the quantity of waste it produces for disposal by practising waste minimisation:
• Reduce
It is important to reduce the amount of waste produced so that less is
sent to landfill. This can be done in many ways such as buying loose fruit
and vegetables, buying in bulk to minimise packaging waste, not buying
disposable items such as razors and pens, using re-usable boxes for packed
lunches, storage of food in the fridge rather than foil or cling film
and so on.
• Reuse
There are numerous ways that the products bought can be reused, such as
using re-usable nappies, buying re-useable carrier bags from supermarkets,
using re-chargeable batteries, buying re-useable items such as jam jars
and donating old clothes and shoes.
• Recycle
Surrey Heath offers a recycling collection scheme for food and drink cans
and also for paper, magazines and catalogues. The Council has 60 recycling
sites around the Borough.
Fly-tipping
Fly-tipping is the illegal deposit of waste onto land and is an increasing
problem in most areas of the country. Fly-tipping is costing Local Authorities
alone £44 million pounds to clear, whereas the true cost including
fly-tipping on private land could be as much as £100m per annum.
To help combat fly-tipping, the Council can take action against anyone transporting waste illegally and against anyone caught fly-tipping. New powers can be used to recover costs from the most serious offenders, who could face fines of up to £50,000 and five years in prison. Residents can also help prevent fly tipping by reporting fly-tipping sites or fly-tippers to the Borough Council and only using reputable companies having an address and land telephone number.
Dealing with Bulky Waste
It is up to householders to prevent fly-tipping by taking bulky waste
to one of the Council’s Civic Amenity Sites (located at Wilton Road,
Camberley or Swift Lane, Bagshot) or arranging for Surrey Heath to collect
Bulky Household Refuse. There is a £23 charge for the collection
of an item, and then £10 for each additional item.
Cllr. Vivienne Chapman, Surrey Heath’s Portfolio Holder for Customer Care said, “The residence of Surrey Heath are very supportive of the recycling schemes and are also very conscious of the pleasant environment in which we all live. Fly-tipping is on the increase and new Government Legislation now empowers Councils to recover costs from serious offenders.”
For further information on
Recycling or Bulky Waste or to arrange a Bulky Waste collection, please
contact Environmental Services on 01276 707330 or environmental.services@surreyheath.gov.uk.
Alternatively please visit the Surrey Heath website www.surreyheath.gov.uk
- Look under 'Environment' and then 'Waste Collection'.
Note:
The Duty of Care is part of the Clean Neighbourhoods’
and Environment Agenda and is designed to act as a deterrent to fly-tipping
and to increase awareness of, and responsibility for, waste. People who
collect or transport waste on a professional basis must be registered
with the Environment Agency.
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 came into force on Tuesday
7th June and Tuesday 18th October 2005 and is designed to help Local Authorities
deal quickly and effectively with those people who litter, fly-tip and
otherwise deface and damage the local environment. The measures in the
Act will support Local Authorities, and their partners, to create cleaner,
safer and greener neighbourhoods.
For further information
about Waste and Duty of Care please visit the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs web site www.defra.gov.uk – Look under ‘Environmental
Protection’, ‘Recycling & Waste’ and then ‘Waste
Legislation & Licensing’.
For further information or photographs contact:
Amanda Gow, Press & Communications Officer 01276 707312
Jenni Wheller, Communications Assistant 01276 707415
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