Hampshire County Council (who provide the Waste Recycling Centres) are carrying out a consultation on its services, which ones are essential, and how they might cut some costs. There are 24 centres in Hampshire which cost £10m to run, or £416,000 each per year.
The new HWRC contract starts in 2015 so this consultation will be used to see what changes will be made in the next period. As HCC are looking to make 12% savings on their total budget they will be looking to consider some here too. Options they are considering include the following:
Closing one or more sites that do not represent good value for money.
Introducing measures to reduce the amount of trade waste wrongfully disposed of at sites
Accepting waste from small local businesses for a fee.
Charging for the disposal of DIY waste to help recover some of the cost of dealing with these waste types.
Reviewing our site opening hours to negotiate lower management costs
Working with charities or communities to increase reuse of furniture and other items
Some of the ideas will save cost, but almost certainly increase fly tipping which is a far more expensive way to deal with a bin of rubbish. the possibility of closing an inefficient unit will only be a problem if it is near us! The consultation closes on Friday 22nd August and here is the link to find out more and complete the survey
