Durham County Council Waste Permit Scheme
Trader? Find out about commercial and trade waste.
Waste Permit Scheme: The Basics
If you want to visit a Household Waste Recycling Centre with a van, trailer or a pick up, you require a permit for site access.- A single permit is required per site visit.
- You can request a maximum of five permits/site visits in any one application.
- Permit/s are valid for a 28 day period starting from the date you specify.
- County Durham residents only
Unused Permits
If you are in possession of unused permits that have expired you can get them reissued by calling 0191 383 3104 or 383 6501How do I Apply for a Permit?
1) You can now come into County Hall or Sedgefiled Borough Council Green Lane Offices to apply for and pick up a permit. This takes between 15-30 minutes. Last permit issued at 4.00pm. If you require a permit the same working day, you must use this method.
2)The easiest way is to apply electronically. You cannot print a permit off on line. If forms are submitted before 12.00 noon on a working day, they will be posted first class the same day.
3) Alternatively you can obtain applications forms from:
- Your local library
- At one of the local household waste recycling centres.
Completed applications should be faxed to 0191 383 3231 (remember to fax both sides!) or sent to:
Waste Permit Scheme
Environment
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UQ
Applications must be completed in full and sent to the Waste Management Business Unit to be processed. If the form is not completed in full it will delay your application.
Permits will be issued within one working day of receipt of applications that meet necessary requirements.
Query?
If you have any questions regarding the waste Permit Scheme please do not hesitate to call 0191 383 3828.Fly Tipping of Rubbish is Illegal
There is a maximum penalty £50,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment can be imposed. If you witness fly tipping in your area please contact Jim Crammon, Fly Tipping Enforcement Officer, on tel: 0191 383 5595.Why have we Introduced a Permit Scheme?
Household Waste Recycling Centres are provided so that residents of County Durham may deposit their excess household waste free of charge.
The disposal of commercial waste at a Household Waste Recycling Centre is a criminal offence (Environmental Protection Act 1990). In recent years the amount of people using vans, pick-up trucks, commercial vehicles and trailers to deliver large quantities of waste to the sites has dramatically increased. A significant proportion of this is commercial/trade waste contributing to nearly £1 million additional cost to the County Councils waste budget in 2004 met by Council Tax.
In addition to the possible illegal disposal of trade waste, such vehicles often pose health and safety risks to other site users and cause delays and inconvenience.
In order to address these problems a permit scheme has been introduced. This requires people who intend to use a van, pick-up, other commercial vehicle or a trailer to deliver their household waste to a site to apply for a permit before they are allowed access to the facility. Unless they are pulling a trailer, the only vehicles not requiring a permit to access Household Waste Recycling Centres are family cars, estate cars, four wheel drives (fully glazed) and jeeps (open or fully glazed).
Any vehicle with a gross weight in excess of 3.5 tonnes and trailers greater than 9ft 10ins (3 metres) will not be permitted access to the site for Health and Safety reasons. Pedestrian access is also be prohibited, to stop people from simply parking up commercial vehicles outside a site and carrying their waste in. A maximum limit of one tonne per load will be enforced irrespective of vehicle or trailer size.
Hazardous household electronic wastes such as TVs fridges and PC monitors are accepted on HWRCs. However, chemical waste such as asbestos, Creosote and other chemicals should be taken to the Waste Transfer Stations to be disposed of responsibly. Please call Tel: 0191 3833743 for advice.
Renovation Policy
By law we do not have to accept any waste generated as part of building improvement repair or alteration.
However, as an extra service we do accept ‘home improvement’ waste from genuine household DIY’ers.
We will continue to accept waste from genuine household DIY’ers. However this will be limited to 20 permits for the duration of the job. If you are generating more than 20 permits worth of waste in one job we advise householders to hire a skip.
