People using vans and trailers to dispose of household waste at Stone’s Household Waste Recycling Centre must get a permit in new plans to improve the service.
The changes come into effect from Monday, the 4th of September, and aim to improve services and reduce queues for residents while promoting sustainable waste disposal within the county.
The e-permits are free of charge for Stone residents, are valid for 12 months and allow up to 12 visits annually. Under the scheme, vehicles such as vans, pick-up trucks, tipper trucks, minibuses with seats removed and campervans with fixtures and fittings removed will require a permit. Those with trailers between 1.5 meters and 2.5 meters in length or over 570 litres capacity will also require a permit.
During visits, permit holders must inform site staff of their permit number or vehicle registration to gain access. People without a correct permit, mismatched registration details, or who have already used up all 12 allowable visits will not be allowed to dispose of the waste.
The permits do not cover waste generated through commercial or business activities. A separate, chargeable service is available for trade waste disposal.
Simon Tagg, Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure, and Climate Change at Staffordshire County Council said:
“It’s really important that we provide high-quality waste disposal services for people and these changes will help us do that.
“The new permit scheme will help to streamline the process, reduce queuing times for customers and help deliver more efficient recycling facilities across our 14 sites. At the same time, it will help us promote and encourage more sustainable and cleaner waste disposal practices which benefits everyone.”
The county council has 14 HWRCs across the county and remains committed to investing in and improving the service while aligning its policies with those of surrounding local authorities.
Currently accepting around 85,000 tonnes of waste per annum across 42 types of material, the recycling centres are visited approximately 1.6 million times a year by residents and some 20,000 times by traders.
More than 47,000 tonnes of waste is recycled each year, and just 1% of waste is sent to landfill. Waste that cannot be recycled is taken to the state-of-the-art facility at Four Ashes, operated by Veolia. Here, it is processed, turned into electricity and used to power 66,000 homes.
Stone residents can learn more about the van and trailer permit scheme on the Staffordshire County Council website. The web page includes an extensive FAQ section that hopes to answer Stone resident’s queries.
