Council recycling places (what a joke)

[a.twiddler]

I had to show my driving license. My partner simply stated our postcode and was let in. She could have lied. Why do some people need to show proof but others seemingly can just say it

Hmm. Sounds like they need to apply the rules more consistently there.

 

[figbat]

I took some old housebricks to the tip, maybe a dozen or so. The tip man saw what I was about to tip (in the skip full of bricks and building waste) and said it was £3 per brick to tip. I told him he must be kidding. I told him I wouldn't pay a penny. He then lowered the price to £10 for the lot. I told him politely where to stick his £10. I still have them (several years on) tucked away behind a shed at the bottom of the garden.

Recent changes in legislation have made disposing of small amounts of DIY building waste free. Our council requires you to prebook a slot to offload any of the identified materials (such as rubble, plasterboard, bathroom ceramics etc) and you are limited to a handful per year.

 

[Rezillo]

The booking thing started when they re-opened after lockdown, in order to not have too many people on site at the same time.

But they have now continued with it here in the Vale of Glamorgan, presuambly still to manage numbers on site. You can book for the same day, it really isn't too onerous.

Our local sites introduced online booking during lockdown. It completely stopped chaotic peak time jams such that when the council asked for feedback on continuing with booking, support for it was overwhelming. Visiting has become an almost civilised experience, plus the staff seem a lot less stressed and are actually helpful.

 

[MontyVeda]

I took an old fridge from work down to the local tip a few years back.Because I was in a white van they refused me entry because It was classed as business waste and not household.I parked the van by the entrance and physically dragged the fridge into the tip,to which the staff where more than happy about.
Absolutely bonkers 😲

Vans have to be booked in advance at our local tips... but you're lucky. We're not allowed into the tip on foot!

 

[Alex321]

Our local sites introduced online booking during lockdown. It completely stopped chaotic peak time jams such that when the council asked for feedback on continuing with booking, support for it was overwhelming. Visiting has become an almost civilised experience, plus the staff seem a lot less stressed and are actually helpful.

Slightly dificult to judge that for me, as we moved house, to a different authority during lockdown, so I don't really know what the one at Llandow was like before that.

Not nearly as good a site as the one in Merthyr, where there was a ramps and a concrete drive all around the top of the skips, so you didn't have to carry your stuff up steps.

 

[Fastpedaller]

When we took off interior doors I rolled up at one of our local tips (now closed forever) to be asked "are they doors?" I answered in the affirmative and he said "you can only bring one door a week". I asked why and was told it was better for the environment ! My statement that driving here 5 times to tip what I could in 1 fell on deaf ears. The next week I thought I'd beat them I took the handles and hinges off the doors and sawed the door in half. When I arrived "are they doors?" 'No mate, just scrap wood' Success!!!

 

[Electric_Andy]

I took a motorcycle top box of an old bike once, it was plastic so very faded and broken. The people at the recycling centre told me "we don't take motorcycle parts". I don't understand why. It's not as though anyone could have taken it and used it in an unsafe manner, the thing was in bits. So I did what I always do when they're being silly; cut it up and put in my brown bin

 

[Time Waster]

When we got rid of our car leaving a partial campervan conversion we got told we needed a permit but they took that load, this time! We got the permit and they never bothered to ask. We did though and got told it was a camper because of the windows so didn't need a permit. That's good because private use vans are only allowed a set number of times a year. The campervan is treated as a car with unlimited, visits.

As to help, if they're there at all it's not guaranteed they'll help. Mind you there was a police sign asking for witnesses to an attack on one of the workers! They now wear camera rig, well every other one. You van understand their attitude because apparently following covid they simply got a lot more abuse which is totally wrong!

 

[Fastpedaller]

Re the 'van is a commercial vehicle' angle........ I don't dump trade waste, but suspected my van could be an issue, but NO Because it's an old c 1988) kit car van (Rickman Ranger) all the tip staff seem to be genuinely interested in it! so no hassle (as yet anyway)

 

[presta]

This is horrendous.

Apparently recycling fraud is one of the most effective ways for organised crime to launder money, 90% of the worst waste companies are linked to crime: guns, prostitution, drugs etc. Councils are knowingly awarding contracts to organised crime syndicates, and council workers are being convicted of corruption. An ex-copper who worked at the Environment Agency says they haven't a clue about the most basic principles of investigating crimes, and are only interested in reputation management. Offenders responsible for a million ton illegal dump in Londonderry still haven't been sentenced after 9 years.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Before the local tip closed to the public, & was relocated, there was an old chap (probably past retirement age?) who was of the same ilk as @johnnyb47's friend

He once tried to have me banned, as my Ifor-Williams trailer was bigger than the 6' x 4' that was officially allowed
He got so heated about it on one visit, that he got a manager to come from the main site (the other side of Wakefield, & 15 - 20 minutes on a traffic-free day)
I was happy to wait, as I had a bit of a secret weapon, the I-W catalogue, showing that my P6 (at 6' 6" x 4') was the smallest trailer they produced (they do sell a 5' x 3' now.. or did)
Manager arrived, listened to both of us, telling the chap "Why is it you, that always complains/gets complained about?!")

Hence, from then on, old chap said nothing to me (it was when I had the Discovery, with the 'RAT' registration, so identifiable)
If he'd listened to me initially, I'd have shown him the brochure & sorted it out

 

[PeteXXX]

My local tip won't take any type of tyre. Peculiar!

 

[classic33]

My local tip won't take any type of tyre. Peculiar!

Ours charge a £1 per bike tyre.

 

[PeteXXX]

Ours charge a £1 per bike tyre.

That's probably what tyre companies charge to dispose of an old car tyre.
I asked our council how I could get rid of some (5) car tyres and they told me to contact a professional specialist tyre disposal company. No wonder things like that end up in ditches!

 

[classic33]

That's probably what tyre companies charge to dispose of an old car tyre.
I asked our council how I could get rid of some (5) car tyres and they told me to contact a professional specialist tyre disposal company. No wonder things like that end up in ditches!

Often feel they're creating a problem when they do that. They often end up clearing them up at a greater cost than accepting them, then passing them on to another company for disposal.