New Household Waste Recycling Site scheme will save taxpayers’ money

A new system to allow only West Sussex residents to use Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRSs) is expected to save local taxpayers £250,000 per year.

Surveys have shown that an average of one in ten people using HWRSs closest to the county borders live outside of West Sussex. At East Grinstead, this can increase to as many as one in five people.

It’s thought the high number of people travelling across county boundaries is down to tougher restrictions imposed by neighbouring authorities.

Deborah Urquhart, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “We are in the position where sites in West Sussex are located close to the borders of neighbouring authorities. And at the same time other councils have introduced tough restrictions which limit what people can dispose of.

“This puts us at a disadvantage because people are choosing to travel to West Sussex with their waste, where currently such restrictions don’t apply.

“This is having a significant impact on waste disposal costs which ultimately fall to the West Sussex taxpayer. With the current state of local government finances we simply cannot continue to subsidise other counties in this way and so we are looking to introduce this new scheme to address this imbalance.”

The County Council will limit the use at all 11 of its HWRSs to West Sussex residents only from 1 December 2019.

The new policy will be enforced through identification checks at the entrances to HWRSs to confirm that the site visitor pays their council tax to West Sussex County Council.

People will need to show only one form of identification, such as:

• Current driving licence (photo card or paper licence)
• TV licence – less than a year old
• Council tax or utility bill – less than a year old

Further details about the changes will be advertised at HWRSs and online on the West Sussex County Council website and the Recycle for West Sussex website in the coming weeks.

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