Sheffield bulky waste collection costs to rise by up to £8
The cost of collecting large items - like sofas or other furniture - is going up
The cost of getting Sheffield Council to pick up bulky items such as a sofa from outside your home is set to rise because of the cost of disposing of fire-retardant materials.
The extra cost will add £8.06 to the £29.60 charged for picking up one to three items, making the new charge £37.66. As 72% of collections are for one to three items, the additional charge is highest in this category.
The £49.80 charge for four to six items will increase by £1.67 to £51.47, seven to nine items will cost £70.72 instead of £70 and disposing of 10 to 12 items will cost £89.33 instead of £88.60, a rise of 73p. The charges come into force from April.
The changes have come about because new Environment Agency guidance requires councils to dispose separately of bulky waste items containing persistent organic pollutants, known as POPs. These are found in the fire-retardant materials in soft furnishings such as settees and chairs.
They have to be separated out from other big items and taken to a separate waste disposal point for special treatment.
The increased charge has been introduced to cover the annual £146,000 running costs for an additional vehicle and driver needed to take POPs items to specialist disposal points. The firm Veolia carries out the work as part of its waste disposal contract with the council.
The council’s waste and street scene policy committee on Friday (February 14) rejected options of adding a separate charge for POPs items only or the council absorbing the cost, which would have hit the committee budget. The council and Veolia will regularly review the new system.
Coun David Barker said: “My two two-seater sofas were removed for £29.60, which I think is a bargain. What are we going to do to promote this and get people to use it?
“It’s probably cheaper than getting a man in a van to chuck it in the local woods.”
Coun Sue Alston said: “At the minute I’m a little uncertain of the way I think this should go. I have also personally used the service in the last few weeks and it was spot on time, collected as per arrangement even though it was in the really bad weather, so definitely recommend the service.”
She said she was worried that the way the charge is distributed “doesn’t feel quite equitable” because it’s being loaded on to people getting rid of the fewest items.
Neil Townrow, waste strategy officer, said that charging customers extra for the POPs items only would cost £14.35 per item on top of the general charge. Therefore the cost of disposing of just two POPs items would almost double.
Coun Peter Gilbert said: “You’re kind of putting people off at the lower end of the number of items and that is where the most collections are. So if this does have the effect of putting people off from requesting the council bulky item collection, rather than just dumping it in a hedge or getting someone else to dump it in a hedge, is there a risk that we’re going to see an increase in fly-tipping as a result of this policy?”
Mr Townrow said that the cost would still be lower than hiring someone with a waste licence and a van to take it away. Residents also have the option of taking items to waste disposal centres themselves for free.
He added: “Increasing costs of anything, there’s an affordability element to it, but ultimately it’s a decision of whether the council covers the additional costs or whether it’s passed on to the customer.”